The Glow of Fireflies
by NightsShade04
Summary: Harumi is found and taken back to the leaf village after he mother is killed. There she continues her life as a ninja alongside her adoptive brother, Naruto. She's reckless, fierce, kind and quick to make friends with others, leaving her friends to wonder if she can survive the ninja lifestyle? Follow her through her journey of training, love and friendship to find out for yourself
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the Characters besides Harumi, and anyone who doesn't belong to the original Naruto plot.**

Naruto and Harumi laughed hysterically as two jounin chased them through the streets of Konoha. Each child had a bucket of paint in their hands from their most recent prank.

"Naruto! Harumi! Get back here! When I get my hands on you!" The one with the eye patch yelled, leaving the threat to the two children's imagination. Harumi just stuck her tongue out at him.

"You've crossed the line, Naruto! Harumi!"

They jumped up, quickly followed by the jounin. It was a whirlwind pattern of going higher and higher until they were over the roofs of the tall buildings that lined the streets. Now, they could see their master piece. The Hokage faces had been painted in ridiculous manners, swirls and x's and sticking out tongues, girlish eyelashes and snot and tears.

"Give it up!" Naruto declared as the two fell back to the ground. "You're just bent because you don't have the guts to what we do! Do ya? Losers! Wanna-bes! You'll never catch me!" He let loose another laugh.

Harumi smiled at her brothers confidence, and exuberance. All this was just to get some attention and she was more than happy to help. She wasn't as ignored as her brother, so anything to help. He was the mastermind behind all their schemes and she just went along for the ride.

They landed on the ground and seemingly kept going, the jounin on their trail. Grinning largely, Naruto pulled back the camouflage sheet and Harumi popped up from behind the fence with a small smile, looking at her equally blonde, blue eyed twin. Naruto left out a laugh, scratching the back of his head.

"That was too easy!"

His scent reached her nose before he appeared behind Naruto. Harumi closed her eyes, resigning that they'd been caught.

"Oh yeah, Naruto!" Iruka-sensei shouted. Iruka had brown hair kept in a pony tail and is their teacher. Naruto let out a shout of surprise, jumping a bit – a lot. He turned, mid-air, and landed on his butt. Harumi hopped over the fence and landed nearly soundlessly.

"Where'd you come from Iruka-sensei!? What are you doing here?" Naruto took a scolding tone, much to Harumi's amusement. It was like he was the teacher yelling at a student for not being in class when in reality it was the other way around.

"No, what are you doing here. You're supposed to be in class. Harumi as well." The twins received mild glares.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto." Iruka-sensei says to a tied up Naruto. He had refused to go back, so he was tied up and carried back. Harumi was more mature about it and walked back and was currently sitting with the rest of the class. She never got scolded along with Naruto. Probably because Iruka-sensei knows he comes up with the ideas, but she should still get in trouble too. She frowns at this.

"You failed the graduation test last time and the time before that. Tomorrow you've got another chance and you're messing up again and bringing Harumi down with you!" She winced. She hated it when they used her as a weapon to guilt trip Naruto into obedience. It only worked once though, the first time. They had a long heartfelt conversation about it and now it didn't bother Naruto. It still bugged her. Naruto 'hmped' and turned away. In return, Iruka-sensei got angry.

"Fine! Since YOU and HARUMI missed it, Naruto, everyone will review the transformation jutsu." A chorus of groans and complaints from the rest of the class besides, Naruto, Harumi and Sasuke met Iruka's declaration, but everyone lined up nonetheless.

Sakura was first. She had bubblegum pink hair and the person Harumi despised the most. She hated how she, and practically every other girl in this school, drooled over Sasuke and how she treated Naruto, whom had a crush on her. She was just another weak, air-headed girl who couldn't realize when her 'love' was **very** one-sided.

"Alright, Sakura here, let's do it." Harumi stared at Sakura like the girl was a complete idiot. For once, Naruto wasn't staring at her dreamily. Probably too angry. "Transform!" In a puff of smoke she became a nearly perfect replica of Iruka-sensei.

"Good."

She proceeded to gloat like a six year old after transforming back. Harumi let out a deep sigh of annoyance. "Sasuke did you see that!?"

"Everyone did!" Harumi snapped. "We're standing right here! Move already!"

Sakura glared, and Harumi returned it tenfold; emerald versus sapphire. Iruka cut in before a fight could start.

"Next." Sakura huffed in annoyance but went back to her seat as Sasuke stalked up. Without a word, he transformed. He received a good like Sakura transformed back and then walked back to his seat.

"Next." Naruto sauntered up as Ino and Shikamaru complained and blamed him and Harumi for the predicament. Which, Harumi guessed was fair. They did skip it.

"Like I care. Transform!" Like always, he was exerting way too much chakra. It was visible, which is really abnormal. Harumi had been trying to help him, pulling every bit of training she received from Houka before she died, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, that puff of smoke came. When it cleared, it wasn't Iruka everyone saw. It was an older, female version of Naruto with pigtails and no clothes. Covering his lady parts were few and thin puffs of smoke that remained.

Iruka went white with shock. Despite knowing it was one of his male students the pervert in him couldn't hold out and he got a nosebleed. A naked girl was a naked girl. Naruto transformed back and laughed. "Got'cha! That's my sexy jutsu!"

Iruka-sensei stomped his foot. "CUT THE STUPID TRICKS! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"

After school ended we found ourselves scrubbing all the paint we put on the Hokage faces off.

"This sucks. Loser." Naruto muttered.

"You're not going home till you've cleaned off every single drop off paint." Iruka announced from his spot on the 2nd Hokage's head. He was watching us to make sure we got it all and actually did it.

"So what?" Naruto retorted. "It's not like there's anyone at home waiting for us!" Harumi felt a pang in her heart. She missed Houka, her foster mother that died when she was 9 and she felt bad that Naruto never had a chance to know what having parents are like.

"Naruto… Harumi…" Iruka-sensei called out.

"What do you want now, Sensei?" Naruto questioned.

"well, I was just thinking… maybe after you two have cleaned this all up I could take you out for some ramen. The good stuff."

Naruto's face lit up. His reaction to getting ramen was what most kids looked like when getting candy. Harumi liked ramen too, but not nearly as much as Naruto. But they were normal customers at Ichiraku noodle shop and the old man working there knows about Harumi's special diet.

"Now that's some serious motivation! I'll have this clean in no time." They both picked up the pace.

Naruto slurped up his noodles while Harumi slurped up a cup of fire. The cup was coated in a non-flammable material and some things inside, spices and leaves and food were put inside and set on fire. Harumi told the Tenraku that a fire's taste changes depending on what it burned, so he experiments. She has a theory that different peoples fire chakra tasted different too.

"Naruto… why would you do that to the Hokage faces? I mean, you know who the Hokage are, don't you?"

"Course I do." He finished off his ramen. "Everybody knows. They were the greatest Shinobi of their time, right? The best of the best. Undefeated ninja champs? And the fourth Hokage's the one who saved the village from the nine tailed fox. He was the most amazing." Naruto rambled while Ten got her another cup.

"Then why did you-"

"Because I'm going to be greater than any of them. Me; Naruto, the next Hokage. A ninja legend!" He pointed his chop sticks at Iruka who was a little shocked. "Of course, Harumi will be right beside me, second in command! My right hand woman; trusted college! Then everyone will have to stop disrespecting us and look UP to us. Believe it!"

Harumi smiled softly. One thing she absolutely adored Naruto for was that he never left her out, good or bad or feelings wise. In return, she was open with him.

"Uhh… I kind of wanna ask a little favor,sensei."

"You want another bowl?" Iruka inquired.

"uh-uh. I…" He dragged the syllable out. "… wanna try on your headband. Come on, please!"

"Uhhh…" Iurka-sensei looked lost for a minute. "Oh, this?" He grabbed the forehead protecting on his noggin, engraved with the Konoha symbol. "No way. You can only wear the leaf headband when you finally graduate from the academy and become a ninja. You've got to pass the test tomorrow."

"That is so un-cool!" Naruto growled, irately. Iruka laughed at him and Harumi giggled a bit at the childish outburst.

"Hey, is that why you took off your goggles?"

"I want another bowl!" This made the other two laugh more.

"We will now start the final exam." Iruka-sensei announced. "When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on… the clone jutsu." Harumi dropped her head on the table with a sigh and Naruto grabbed his face in despair. _That's his/my worst jutsu! Great! He's/I'm never gonna pass!_

Harumi lifted her head up. Oh well, another year in the academy won't be so bad. She felt awful though. Naruto really wanted to graduate this time and that one jutsu was gonna hold him back. She should've helped him more.

"Harumi Uzumaki." She got up and made her way to the testing room, Naruto calling out 'good lucks' behind her until Sasuke told him to shut up and they got into an argument. She made the hand symbol. She used a bit too much from lack of concentration and quickly adjusted the jutsu as to not waste any chakra and ten more versions of Harumi poofed into the room.

"Sorry… weren't supposed to be that many."

"It's fine. Impressive as always. It's hard to believe you two are related sometimes." Mizuki sensei hummed, leaning back in his chair. She frowned at that comment, but stepped forward and received her headband. She headed back to class. It sounded like Mizuki was insulting Naruto and she didn't like it.

Naruto looked up with interest and Harumi lifted the headband up with a victorious grin. Shock flitted across everyone else's face. Harumi did what Naruto did, and 'failed' her tests, and turned her work in when people weren't looking so they must've thought she was on the same level as her brother, twins through and through.

"Naruto Uzumaki." She gave him a high five as he passed her.

"Kill it." He nodded and hurried to the testing room, the last student to go. _Please pass this time, Naruto. You can do it!_

The class was dismissed and Naruto never returned. I hurried outside, looking for a shock of spikey blonde hair boasting about having gotten a headband and becoming Hokage. Instead, she found a melancholy boy, sitting on the swing in the shadows, staring at the celebrating kids and parents, headband-less. Harumi's shoulders dropped and she approached him with sad eyes.

"Naruto… it's okay. We'll just try again next year."

"No… I will try again next year. You… you go on be a ninja." Naruto sent his sister a weak smile. "You're a great ninja and a great sister and I don't want to hold you back anymore. It's not like you're going to go away. You'll still live with me and train with me sometimes and nag about my eating habits. So go on, go eat fire and ichirakus and celebrate. I'll be there… later."

"Okay." Harumi turned and walked away, tears blurring her vision. She didn't want to be a ninja without Naruto. She wanted to be on the same team and train together and go on missions together. She was more than happy to wait while Naruto caught up. Being beside him was more important to her than becoming a ninja. But she also didn't want him feeling bad for 'holding her back', as so many had put it. No one was holding her back, but her. It was her decision to stay behind. What was the point of walking forward if no one was beside you; if you were leaving the things that mattered most behind? Harumi gripped her headband tightly.

A pair of onyx eyes watched her go. He was surprised she was better than her brother. She acted like such an idiot, just like her brother, but seemed more air-headed. Tendrils of smoke caught his eye and he looked down. It was coming from in between her hand and the metal of her headband. Sasuke frowned and narrowed her eyes. Was she a fire type? Did she _know_ fire jutsus? That would put her at** his** level.

She set her headband on the counter wordlessly. Tenraku frowned sadly, knowing full well what had happened and made her favorite cup of fire yet; burning honey. These ingredients were specifically kept for Harumi's cups of fire.

He kept them coming. She slurped them up and slowly chewed, staring at the counter with a lost expression. He ran out of honey so moved on to her second favorite, rose petals. He set another cup down and she took it up. Right when it was at her lips, it was harshly snatched away.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?"

Harumi stared at the Uchiha with a scandalized expression. What the hell had she done to warrant that? Absolutely nothing!

"I could you ask you the same thing!" She snapped. "Give back my cup Uchiha! I'm not in the mood!"

The fire that was normally in her eyes returned, but just as a tiny spark.

"Sasuke…" Harumi rubbed her temples. "I eat fire all the time. Give it back already."

"You… do?"

"Yes. This sort of thing happens when you're raised by a dragon." Reluctantly, he handed the cup back and watched in amazement when she slurped it up, cheeks puffed lightly, chewed then swallowed. A stream of smoke released her open mouth and disappeared. He sat down. He'd never seen anything like this before.

"One Miso ramen." He ordered. Might as well eat while he interrogated her. "What do you mean 'raised by a dragon'?"

"Just that. I was raised by Houka, a fire dragon. She died when I was 9 and I was found by some leaf ninja and taken here and they moved me in with Naruto. We just clicked and we look enough alike…"

"But there's no way you, you know, _came_ from a dragon." His order arrived.

"Of course not. I had a family once. I don't have any memories of them anymore. A part of me doesn't want to, like there's nothing good to remember, that I hated them. Sometimes, at time, I get flashes, blurs of color and still pictures. A Blonde haired woman with green eyes and bruises on her face. Her eyes are tired and scared. A man with black hair and cold blue eyes. He always looks unhappy. Screaming, shouts, things breaking."

Harumi blinked. Why did she go and say all that? She was only ever that open with Naruto and it's not like Sasuke actually cared about all that.

An abusive father, Sasuke concluded.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

Harumi glanced at the clock and her eyes widened. It was way past closing time for Ichiraku's and Naruto still hadn't shown up. Her head dropped. She reached in her pocket.

"It's on the house Harumi, you too young man, for keeping her company."

"Thanks."

"Yeah." Sasuke agreed and they both stepped out of the booth.

"See ya tomorrow Uchiha." Harumi says and turns towards her house. Sasuke was right next to her, hands in his pockets. "Your house is this way?"

"No, I'm walking you home." Harumi smiled slyly, putting a hand over her mouth.

"Kukuku… Such a gentleman~." He scoffed, Harumi daresay, playfully.

"This is me." He nodded and turned to leave just as two jounin arrived and grabbed Harumi by the wrist painfully and demanded, "Where is your brother, Harumi Uzumaki!?"

"Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you!" She spat. His grip tightening and he yanked her toward him, grabbing her other arm in the same harsh manner. She let out a yelp. A pale hand covered by white arm warmers grabbed the violent jounin wrist and squeezed.

"Let go of her. She doesn't know. I saw her part ways with him at the academy; she's been at Ichiraku's since. I was with her for awhile. Now get lost."

Everyone let go at the same time.

"Harumi Uzumaki, you are to stay in your home until your brother his located. Sasuke Uchiha, you are to keep an eye on her. If you fail to keep her in the house or from seeing or speaking with her brother, you will _both_ suffer the consequences." With that, they hopped off. Harumi gritted her teeth and angrily stormed into her and Naruto's house, followed by a more calm Sasuke, who shut the door behind him.

"Calm down." Sasuke stated. "It's going to be fine. It's probably just another one of his pranks."

"But he always tells me about his pranks!" Harumi protested.

Sasuke sighed and sat down on the couch. "Chill. Naruto's an idiot, but he's not _that_ much of an idiot." Harumi scowled at him before sitting next to him with a huff, pulling her legs into her chest. Time ticked by.

"Sorry for getting you dragged into this."

"It's fine."

She leaned back. Worrying was wearing her out and Harumi could feel her eyelids get heavy. Eventually, they closed and she fell to the side, leaning on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke jumped in shock and opened his mouth to reprimand her. He thought she was the only girl, with the exception of Hinata, that didn't like him. His mouth snapped shut. She was asleep, eyebrows still drawn together from worry, frowning. Sasuke found himself imagining her big, bright smile and decided frowns looked no good on her. Her face should be just as sunny as her hair, just as sparkly as her eyes. His eyes widened at his own thoughts and he shook his head. Ridiculous.

Sasuke had small ounces of respect for the blonde because of her undying loyalty to her brother and kindness towards others. She was nice to everyone at some point, even Sakura. He's seen her get treated horridly by someone and then run into them only hours later and help them pick up fallen groceries without a second thought. It was like she couldn't be bothered to hold a grudge and she seemed happier than most people. Maybe that was why and Sasuke both envied and respected her for it.

He shifted, so his shoulder wouldn't dig into the soft hollow of her temple. Her cheek now rested on his shoulder. He didn't want to wake her. She was obviously worried and tired and waking her up would just lead to her eventually pacing again. Which was really annoying.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the Characters besides Harumi, and anyone who doesn't belong to the original Naruto plot.**

Naruto burst into his house excitedly, with a tint of guilt for never showing up at ichirakus to celebrate with Harumi. He froze at the view he was getting in his living room. Sasuke and Harumi were laying on the couch. Sasuke one leg propped up against the couch, the other straight, one of his arms dangled off the side and the other was firmly wrapped around Harumi's waist. She was laying on top of him, legs bent and in between his. Hands clutched his shirt and her face was buried in the crook of his neck. He released a horrified scream.

Harumi's eyes shot open, instantly alert. She looked over her shoulder, saw Naruto and was relieved. He was home. She looked more closely. He was dirty and really pale.

"What's wrong?"

"Wh- Wha- What the Hell!? When did you start liking Sasuke!"

"Huh?" Harumi looked down. She was a little surprised to see Sasuke beneath her. He must've allowed her to sleep on his shoulder and the fell asleep himself.

"What are you talking about? He was told to watch me and we both fell asleep. What the hell happened yesterday!?" Harumi carefully detached herself from Sasuke, not wanting to wake him. The least she could do was let him sleep after - unintentionally - dragging him into her problems.

"Well…" Harumi followed him to the bathroom and while he put paint all over his face, he explained what happened, leaving nothing out.

"I see. That jerk. Anyways, have fun… doing what you're doing." She eyed him as he washed all the paint off his face for the umpteenth time. "I've got cleaning to do."

Harumi walked off feeling ecstatic. Naruto was graduating with her. Everything was going to be okay. She retrieved a blanket and pillow for the raven haired boy sleeping on her couch and tucked him in after she removed his headband, arm warmers, shoes and the bandages around his legs. She looked at his face. It was relaxed and he seemed less cruel and dangerous, the sun casting soft streams of light across his face. He almost looked like a child. Harumi smiled softly.

_Sleep changes everyone._

She began cleaning up. Halfway through, Naruto darted out of the house, yelling something about getting his picture taken. She sang softly to herself as she scrubbed. She was almost done with the kitchen and would begin breakfast. Unknown to her, the top student in the academy slipped into the kitchen.

_"If the sky was crying for you, I'll turn into the sea and embrace it,_

_Even if we're swallowed by the storm and lose our map,_

_Your back is the signpost for me now,"_

_like the moon and sun, even when near or far, please,_

_Be close enough to capture my light..."_

She started putting all the cleaning supplies away.

_"Smile, smile_

_Watch me always, watch me forever whenever_

_Smile, smile_

_Want to believe, want to feel it forever_

_Smile, smile_

_Being able to understand happy mornings and sad nights_

_I won't forget to smile_

_I cannot live without you forever,"_

She pulled out the ingredients and materials for omelets, mentally deciding Sasuke wasn't a sweets person. She couldn't stand to see someone eat French toast or pancakes without syrup.

_"N and S, like magnets, when we notice someday_

_We'll be pulled together as if that was ordinary_

_Like the secret, unstopping clock that no one knows_

_The two continues to move on the same face_

_I dreams about your long hand, my small overlaps_

_To deepen the love,"_

One omelet down.

_"Smile, smile_

_Watch me always, watch me forever whenever_

_Smile, smile_

_Want to believe, want to feel it forever_

_Smile, smile_

_Being able to understand happy mornings and sad nights_

_I won't forget to smile_

_I cannot live without you forever,"_

Two more omelets down.

_"Smile, smile_

_Watch me always, watch me forever whenever_

_Smile, smile_

_Want to believe, want to feel it forever_

_Smile, smile_

_Being able to understand happy mornings and sad nights_

_I won't forget to smile_

_I cannot live without you forever,"_

And two more. She was done. Clapping resounded from behind her, and she jumped before whirling around. Sasuke was leaned casually against the wall opposite from herself. Harumi could feel her cheeks heat up.

"H-how long have you been there?!"

"The beginning of the song. Are one of those for me?"

She sighed. No point in getting upset over it. "You can have more than one if you'd like. Eat what you want. I can always make more."

He took three and sat the table.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Do you have orange juice?" She nodded and got her some in the process as well and then joined him at the table.

"Chores of the day done?"

Harumi sighed. "No. I still need to go shopping. And Naruto's not here to keep me company like he usually does."

"I'll go with you." Harumi blinked in surprise. She definitely wasn't expecting that.

"What?" She pressed, making sure she heard him right.

"I'll go with you." She smiled softly.

"Okay. Thanks. You can get any shopping you need done in the process."

Sasuke popped an eyebrow at the blonde. "I don't shop."

"Then how do you get food to cook?" Harumi tilted her head a bit out of confusion.

"I don't."

"Then what do you eat!"

"Take out, restaurants, etcetera."

Harumi sighed. She couldn't believe him! A growing boy shouldn't be eating only take out and such, let alone one aspiring to become a ninja. He was gonna up looking bigger than Chouji.

"Sasuke, that's not healthy. If you ever want a home cooked meal, my doors always open, okay? Whenever you want, whatever you want. I like cooking so it won't bother me."

Harumi really was kind. He couldn't count the number of times they'd gotten into it on two hands, but here she was, offering to cook for him.

"Alright, I'll pay for your groceries then."

"Eh? No, no! I couldn't ask for that!"

"You're not. You'll be cooking for me so the least I can do is provide the ingredients." He argued.

"But!" She protested but was quickly silenced with a glare. She let her shoulders sag.

"Fine, you win."

The trip through the market was pleasant. Sasuke insisted on carrying the groceries, the two got stares from other people - some bewildered, some with glares and others with lovey-dovey expressions - and Harumi had to scare off a couple of Sasuke's fan girls.

"Damn, those bitches are annoying. I don't get how you stay so calm when they stalk you 24/7 and cling to you like they do and _whine._ Oh my god, their whining voices! I just wanna jab'em all in the throat or choke them out, ya know?!" Harumi ranted irately as she put the groceries away. She turned to look at Sasuke, an incredulous expression plastered to her face.

"It is annoying. They're so clueless it's disgusting." Sasuke snarled. It annoyed him more than he let on. Harumi always assumed the reason he never told them off was because he liked the attention, but in reality, he was just too much of a gentleman. Just like when he walked her home last night. More caring than he let on.

"So, what do you and don't you like to eat? I don't want to make you something you won't eat and on special occasions, I'd like to make you something you'd really enjoy."

"Well, I like rice balls, okaka and tomatoes. I don't like natto or anything that's sweet."

Even though she was right about him not being a sweets person, Harumi was still appalled. "You don't like sweets! How can you not like sweets!?"

"I just don't." Harumi shook her head.

"I love sweets almost as much as fire."

"Can you… perform fire jutsus?

Harumi turned and blinked. "Of course. I am a fire dragon. What fire dragon can't produce fire?" Amusement flickered through Sasuke's eyes for a moment.

"My mistake." He smirked. Had Harumi been a normal girl she would've felt weak in the knees or swooned. But she wasn't, so she simply smiled at him. Sasuke wasn't so bad. He was capable of being civil. Sasuke was concluding the same thing about Harumi.

The thought of sweets made her think of birthday cake. Maybe she could make something that resembled a birthday cake out of his favorite foods? Make a bunch of rice balls and stack them on top of each other. When is Sasuke's birthday?

"Wanna watch a movie or go train? Ah, you probably don't want to hang out with me." Harumi nervously scratched the back of her. Much to Sasuke's surprise, she didn't look the least bit offended by that.

"We could just go on a walk."

"Okay!"

The odd couple walked around the streets of Konoha, occasionally pulling up a conversation. Once again, Harumi had to run off Sasuke's fan girls, Sakura and Ino included.

"I think I'll have you come on walks with me more often. Too many times, I've had them chase me through the streets several times a day, especially on Valentine 's Day."

"Aww, Uchiha's getting too much love.~" Harumi cooed teasingly. He scowled. Their day continued on like that until night fell and then Sasuke walked Harumi home again. Naruto was waiting, his bright smile becoming a scowl when he saw that Sasuke was with Harumi. He all but burst into flames when he discovered they'd spent the whole day together and began spewing insults at the last Uchiha, even after he left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the Characters besides Harumi, and anyone who doesn't belong to the original Naruto plot.**

For once, Naruto was up before his sister, despite him having kept her up by telling her what went down with some kid named Konohamaru, which was after he calmed down. Already dressed, headband and all. He grinned. "Hey, Haru-nee!"

"Morning, Naru-nii. Excited?" He nodded. Harumi was also dressed, her headband tied securely around her neck. She grabbed an apple and they headed to the academy. Their last day in that place, hopefully. Along the way, Harumi couldn't help but notice the unusual lump in the wall. A very small someone was epically failing at hiding. The sheet was even held the wrong way, clashing against the wood posts natural _vertical_ lines.

"You're mine, Naruto!" The sheet dropped, revealing a boy with an odd contraption on his head. He took a step forward, but forget to actually _let go_ of the sheet and tripped over it. This caused him to face plant into the ground. Harumi covered her mouth, instantly concerned for the younger boy while Naruto just stared at him for a minute, before closing his eyes.

"Uh… what are you doing, Konohamaru?" Harumi blinked. So this was Konohamaru.

"That was a slick move." The Kono - she mentally dubbed him because his name was too long - grunted from the floor. He started picking himself up. "That's why I respect you as a rival."

"But I didn't do anything." Kono got to his feet, totally ignoring Naruto's comment.

"Alright, now fight me fair and square!"

"Sorry, we've got an orientation."

Kono was shock. "Orientation?" He echoed.

"That's right. As of today, the Uzumaki Twins are ninjas. Believe it." He pointed to his headband proudly. Konohamaru gasped in awe.

"And this is…"

_'And even **I** didn't do it __**all**__ on my own. I had my sister, Harumi, helping me and supporting me and encouraging me.'_

"My twin sister, Harumi!" Naruto cut in. Konohamaru blushed.

"You're really pretty." Harumi smiled sweetly, bent and gave the boy a quick kiss on the forehead. Every girl liked being called pretty.

"Thank you, cutie. Now, be more careful." Naruto and Harumi continued on their way, Konohamaru watching after them. There were only a couple of people in the classroom by time Naruto and Harumi arrived, Sasuke included. He was normally the first person in class every day. She smiled and instantly approached him, Naruto following rather unhappily. She sat on one side of him and Naruto the other.

"Good morning, Sasuke."

"Morning." He replied lowly, without moving from his position. Naruto laid his head on the desk and grinned happily, giggling to himself. Harumi found it very amusing. Sasuke tensed. He thought she was giggling at him and almost wrote her off as another fan girl, but realized she was laughing at Naruto's behavior. People whispered greetings to each other and Shikamaru stopped as he passed by Naruto.

"Huh? What are you doing here, Naruto? This isn't for drop outs. You can't be here unless you graduate." Shikamaru chided. "You can't be here just because your sister is."

"Oh, yeah? Do you see this? Do you see this?" Naruto snapped, pointing at his headband. "Open your eyes Shikamaru. It's a regulation headband. We're gonna be training together." The boy with pineapple shaped ponytail scoffed. "Let me put it to you this way. I look great in this head gear, like it was made for me. Believe it." Naruto let out a goofy laugh.

A sound that reminded Harumi of stampede was approaching the classroom and then Sakura and Ino slammed open the door, fighting to get inside. They fell in and shouted 'I'm first', raising their hands up. This caused them to hit each other in the face. Too tired to fight about it, they dropped their arms and panted. Harumi shook her head in disappointed towards her gender.

"I won again, Sakura." Ino sneered.

"Give it up." Sakura retorted. "I had to look back to see you. My toe was at least a tenth of an inch ahead."

Harumi attempted to hold in her laughter at their stupidity but failed miserably. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sasuke's mouth quirk upward a bit.

"Have you always been this delusional?" Naruto, finally realizing pink-haired wonder had arrived, turned around with a dreamy expression and a blush. All amusement dropped from Harumi's face and she sighed. She wished her brother would realize how Sakura treats him and move on to someone else, preferably Hinata. The sweet girl liked him so much and she'd take good care of him. Sakura broke off from her argument with Ino and began scanning the room, looking for the heart throb of her generation. Her gaze settled in Harumi's, Naruto's and Sasuke's direction and Naruto got a hopeful spark in his eyes. It was short lived, seeing as Sakura shoved him out of the way to greet Sasuke.

"Uh… Good morning Sasuke." She murmured, clasping her hands in front of her chest, waiting. He glanced at her, acknowledging her existence. One of the reasons why Harumi didn't downright hate Sasuke for his treatment of Naruto was that, despite how annoying his fan girls were, he never snapped or ignored their existence. She found it admirable. Harumi could never do that. She would inform that person of her feelings and if they didn't take the hit, she'd get angry. Harumi hated repeating herself.

"Mind if I sit next to you?"

Ino stomped over, roughly grabbing Sakura's arm. "Back off forehead. _I'm_ sitting next to Sasuke."

"I was here first." Sakura growled, reminding Harumi off a child.

"I walked into the classroom before you did. Everybody saw it." Ino retorted, equally childish.

"Dream on!" A girl snapped. Approaching, stepping over Naruto in the process.

"Actually, I got here before either of you!"

"So did I! I'm sitting next to Sasuke."

More and more kept coming and arguing over who got to sit next to Sasuke. Sasuke closed his eyes irately, frowning and let out a sigh. One word drifted through his mind; Clueless.

"I believe my brother and I are sitting next to Sasuke. We're not moving to placate your sick obsession for him." There was a glare match between Harumi and the fan girls who were losing badly.

Elsewhere, people were observing the most recent graduates through a crystal ball. It was currently trained on an irritated Uchiha and female Uzumaki.

"Most promising students, Sasuke Uchiha and Harumi Uzumaki. Is that them?"

"Yes, they're the ones."

"He's the only survivor left from the Uchiha Clan and that girl… she was raised by a dragon, right?" The only female of the group spoke up. Her name is Kurenai.

"That's right." The Hokage answered. A silver haired man known as Kakashi stared intently at the crystal ball as it panned over to the group of girls childishly fighting over a seat next to the infamous Sasuke and Naruto Uzumaki, whom was still on the floor.

'_Naruto Uzumaki, huh?'_

Anger over took Naruto, from all those girls fighting over his sulky rival. He hopped up on the desk and got in Sasuke face, trying to unveil what it was they liked about him so much? Was is the hair style? Nah, it looks like a ducks butt. The black eyes? No, his eyes were creepy. The pale skin? All girls liked vampires right, though that's kind of shallow and Naruto didn't consider Sakura to be shallow. His skills? Also shallow. _Well it sure isn't his personality, so what is it?_

Harumi watched with interest, a little curious as to what her brother was doing. He looked almost as if he were studying Sasuke, like a scientist studies one of his experiments. She watched as he gritted his teeth out of frustration, obviously not satisfied with his thoughts. Sasuke breathed out of his nose sharply from annoyance.

_Just what is this idiot up to?_

"Naruto!" Sakura screeched. "Hey! Stop _glaring_ at Sasuke!"

Naruto looked over in dismay at her words, before going back to scrutinizing Sasuke through a glare. _'Why are they so obsessed with him? Sasuke! Sasuke! What's the big deal with this guy!?'_

Both of their glares worsened to the point you could see electricity fly between them from the intensity. Sasuke's fan girls cheered him on, urging him to beat Naruto up. Harumi watched with interest, curious as a cat. A guy leaned back and bumped Naruto, exclaiming something was great. Harumi's eyes widened and her jaw went slack with shock.

"Oh, sorry. Did I bump you?" The fan girls expression were the same as Harumi's

"Wh- What the…" Sakura trailed off, unable to form words anymore.

"I… uh…." Ino wasn't much better off.

When the kid bumped Naruto, it caused the two that were already really close, to completely close the distance and lock lips. Harumi wasn't sure how to react to that. Naruto and Sasuke got over the shock and quickly pulled apart, dramatically holding their throats like they were choking.

"They are **vicious.**" The same guy who bumped Naruto exclaimed. That was the breaking point for Harumi. She started laughing so hard she began to cry. She fell out of her seat and curled into a ball and let the hilariousness of the situation overtake her. The lack of oxygen reaching her lungs caused her a bit of pain and her legs subconsciously moved as a result. She looked rather comical, down there on the floor.

Naruto froze, his animalistic instincts kicking in. "Danger!" He slowly turned to see a mob of very pissed off fan girls, united against a common enemy; him.

"Naruto." Sakura growled. "You are so dead."

"Whoa, it was an accident." He tried to soothe the angry horde of kunoichis. Sakura cracked her knuckles, looking a little scary. "You're finished."

They got ready to pounce just as Harumi broke out of her fit of hysterical laughter. She landed on the desk in front of Naruto, crouched defensively. Like hell she was gonna let those bimbos beat up her brother.

"Try it, and I'll rip off every single one of your arms." She snarled, menacingly. Her glare was several times worse than all of theirs put together. Even though they all believed she was Naruto's level, weak, that glare was enough to normally make them back off. There was something fierce, dangerous, confident and animalistic that scared them. But Sakura had had enough; of both her and her brother.

"Why don't you just back off?! This doesn't concern you!"

"Anything that involves my brother concerns me." Harumi hissed, her glare worsening to the point that a lot of girls scampered off. Sakura swallowed. She knew Harumi could look scary, but she didn't know she could look terrifying. She thought she'd seen Harumi's worse glare, but this… it was like looking into the eyes of a very pissed off beast. Her pupils were silted, and extra lines appeared to make the once sparkly sapphire eyes, seem colder, harder, and sharper like the actual gem. "Don't tell me what is and isn't my concern, you air-headed, fake, delusional twat!"

Harumi hopped off the desk and stood to her full height, a dark shadow passing over her face. She was shorter than Sakura but ten times more threatening. Sakura wasn't the only who had had enough. Harumi was fed up with a girl who had a big mouth and nothing to back it up constantly trash talking her and her brother and acting like she's better than everyone at everything. A girl who doesn't treasure the undying love her brother offers to her or anyone's for that matter.

Sakura took a step back, shaking. All her instincts were screaming 'Danger', 'Back off' and 'Run'. She opened her mouth to retort. She didn't want to be embarrassed in front of Sasuke.

"Say something else." Harumi demanded lowly, fingers curling into a tight fist. "I dare you. I'll hit you so hard your ancestors will get knocked out." Sakura whimpered, her hand coming up a bit, like she was trying to hide behind it.

Naruto's hands came up and landed on Harumi's shoulder. "Calm down, Haru-nee. It's okay. Jeez, do all fire dragons have such bad tempers?" He joked tensely, trying to ease the hostile tension between his twin and the girl he had a severe crush on.

"Yes." Harumi answered. "I'm not nearly as bad as Houka, though." She allowed him to steer her to her original seat. Sasuke had to admit, that glare was impressive. A smirk curled his lips but he said nothing to the seething blonde. He wasn't sure if she was calm enough to hold a conversation or if she'd take her anger out on him.

"As usual," The Hokage sighed. "Naruto is right in the middle of some kind of trouble."

"That Harumi is fierce." Kurenai murmured. She respected girls like that. She didn't hate the ones that were more cowardly or didn't always bark back, but she had more respect for the ones that did. "She's going to be my student, right?"

"No. I've decided she'll be under Kakashi."

Kurenai wasn't ready to give up. "But she has a _zero_ in Genjutsu, my specialty. Wouldn't it make more sense that she be under me?"

"Under normal circumstances, yes. But Harumi is not normal." Kurenai narrowed her eyes.

"How so?"

"Because she was raised by a dragon." Kakashi answered. "You've never encountered or heard stories about Dragon Sages so you wouldn't know."

"Dragon Sages?" Kurenai cut in. "There's no way that girl is a Sage! She too young and too controlled by her emotions, anger in particular!"

"Not yet, but she's halfway there. Being a raised by a Dragon, means being taught their ways. All the basics were skipped except for physical training, which is taken to an extreme most can't endure. She needs someone with Jutsu's to challenge her strong fire, capable of keeping up with her strength and speed while helping her grow and learn new jutsu and with some Genjutsu skills to possibly help her learn them and understands the ways of Dragon Sages. In fact, someday, she'll probably have to leave the village to seek out another fire dragon in order to reach her full potential

It is rare for Dragon Sages to be able to perform Genjutsu's and then you have to categorize them by type of Dragon. Never once has there been a _Fire_ Dragon Sage that could perform a Genjutsu, or even understand it, so attempting to train her in it would just be a waste of time she could use spending on everything else. Not like Dragon Sages need it. Their strong enough without being able to cast illusions. Besides, her weakness is also a strength. The prospect of illusions is so far out of her calculations she can't seem to grasp it to the extent that even when a Genjutsu is placed on her, she sees through it without ever realizing a Genjutsu was placed in her in the first pace. The theory is that, that belief conjures a strange Chakra in her brain that affects her eyes ability to see illusions.

There were countless reports from her teachers saying while it worked on every other student; she was the only one glancing around confused as the others kids reacted to the illusion. But… that's not always the case. It seems when the 'enemy' announces it verbally their going to place a Genjutsu on her, she becomes a aware of it and that chakra doesn't arise and cause her to see through it. That goes against everything a ninja is taught so, it will be a rarity for it to work on her."

"Can't she just watch her opponent and realize they're going to cast a Genjutsu?" Asuma inquired.

"That's the thing." Kakashi murmurs. "Harumi doesn't do that. She waits till after her enemy casts their attack to react and judge what she should do. A works better under pressure, go with the flow type of ninja. Besides, her second lowest grade is in hand signs. She had a hard time memorizing them, so figuring that out would be hard. We know she waits because she never even looks at her enemies' hands. She uses all her senses and focus' on the target or targets and their attacks. She's verbally stated, 'I don't see the point in making a plan because I never know what the enemy is going to throw at me and it would be irritating to have to keep re-planning cause they dished out something I wasn't expecting. No plans are sure fire, I don't care how smart or skilled or experienced you are, the outcome of a fight is never a sure, already determined thing. I'll never make the mistake of underestimating my enemy. I'm aware I'm reckless, but that isn't because I'm underestimating my opponents. It's my fighting style'.

"But how can she perform jutsu without hand signs?" Asuma pressed.

"Her emotions. Dragons Sage's don't need hand signs, just like dragons don't. They can even breathe and touch their element without a single worry. They're practically one with it, an extension of their body and soul. Dragon Sages, Fire types in particular, are often described as beastly, but in reality they act more on emotion than logic. So, you saying she's too emotional would prove you would hinder her training. If fact, if you were to try to make her less emotional, you would either cause a serious problem in the squad or bring _down_ her abilities. Fire isn't anger, its passion, about anything which is why Fire types are considered the more beastly Dragons. Anything that has passion it warrants an extreme reaction, hence Harumi's exuberance, temper and so on. Showing emotions is natural to Dragons. Emotions are considered sacred and are meant to be shown not hidden, which is why Harumi wears her heart on her sleeve and it's directly connected to her performance. A state of depression could prevent her from being able to perform or go on missions at all. Actually, there's a rumor that Dragons won't train anyone who is emotionally deficit or unavailable. That's probably why most Dragon Sages aren't apart of ninja villages, but nomads that roam around, despite being major people, persons.

"I understand." Kurenai resigned regretfully, but Kakashi was best suited for her and was obviously brushed up on Dragon Sage ways.

Mean While

In the end Sakura got the seat next to Sasuke and Ino got the seat behind her. It went Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Harumi on that crowded row.

"AS of today you are all ninjas!" Iruka began his speech. "To get here you faced difficult trials and hardships, but that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you are only Genin; first level ninjas. All the Genin will be grouped into three man squads. Due to the odd number, there will be one group of four. Each squad will be lead by a Jounin, an elite ninja."

Shock filtered through the room, some pleasant, some not so much. Sakura and Ino were of the former

_'A three man - one four - man, squad.'_

"Well, someone has to be in Sasuke's squad. I wonder who?" Ino sneered.

"I don't know." Sakura replied coolly but inside she was raging. 'Cha! I'm gonna be with Sasuke so stay away from him you hag!' Her inner self snarled.

Sasuke was of the later. He made a noise of disapproval. _'Groups of three, possibly four. That'll only slow me down.'_ He mentally complained. He wanted an excellent solo teacher to focus solely on him so he could get stronger faster. If there was team, he'd have to divide the teachers attentions between them and that would definitely slow him down.

Naruto was somewhere in between. It really depended on the members. _'I really want to be with Sakura and Harumi.' _He inwardly groaned while outwardly pouting. _'Well, I don't care! As long as it's not Sasuke!'_

Harumi didn't mind either way. She's capable of working with just about anyone to achieve her goals, even that wretch Sakura, as her having the top grade in cooperation proves. She would prefer to **not** have that cotton candy haired something that starts with a b, and _too_ have Naruto on her team.

"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities, so that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads." Time ticked by and both her and Naruto's name had yet to be mentioned.

"Squad 7, Naruto Uzumaki…" The two bright blondes of the classroom perked up. "Sakura Haruno…" A couple seconds passed and then Naruto jumped, screaming 'yay!' while Sakura hung her head in depression the thoughts 'I'm doomed', floating through her mind. Harumi gripped her hands tightly. She could handle Sakura if it meant she could remain with her brother. "Sasuke Uchiha." Her shoulders dropped and Sakura and Naruto switched reactions. "And Harumi Uzumaki." She'd forgotten about the squad of four. A brilliant smiled lit up her faces as Naruto let out a victorious cry and Sakura paled considerably from sheer terror.

Sasuke was mildly happy about his placement. At least his team didn't entirely consist of incompetent idiots. Hinata was upset she wouldn't be placed with Naruto or Harumi. She was hoping to further her bond with the two, especially Naruto.

"Squad 8, Hinata Hyuuga," She jumped at the mention of her name. "Kiba Inuzuka," The boy smirked. "Shino Aburame." He pushed his shades up, nerd-like. Sakura turned and gave Ino the peace sign.

The pale blonde growled in response. "How did you get in his group!?"

Sakura didn't verbally respond but her inner self boasted. 'Chi-ching! True love conquers all!'

"I don't get it." Shikamaru muttered. "What do you see in a guy like that? He's not so special."

You are so beyond clueless, Shikamaru. Don't you get it?" Ino snapped.

"No, I don't get it, because I'm not a girl." He retorted.

"You are so full of yourself." Harumi turned and popped an eyebrow at her. Shikamaru? Egotistical? Pfft, since when? "Jealousy is a terrible thing. I'd hate to be on your squad."

"Don't worry, Shikamaru. I'm a girl and even _I_ don't get it." He smiled at her in appreciation.

"Squad 10, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara…" Ino gasped in dismay and Shikamaru scoffed.

"Did you say something about hating to be on my squad?" He teased.

"And Chouji Akamichi."

_"Not food boy too!?"_ Ino groaned inwardly, devastated by her squad mates.

"Those are all the squads." Iruka concluded.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shot to his feet. "Why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same squad with a slug like Sasuke?" Sakura glared then stiffened when she felt piercing daggers dig into her back.

"Hmm…" Iruka hummed. "Sasuke had the best scores out of all the graduating students… well…." HE trailed off. He could make it known to all those who underestimate Harumi that she was actually above their level. "He was tied with Harumi. Naruto! You had the worst scores!" Shocked gasps turned to laughs. "To create balanced group, we put the best student with the worst student." Naruto growled.

"Just make sure you don't get in my way, loser." Sasuke says.

"Hey! What did you say!?" Naruto stated, putting his fists up.

"Hard of hearing." It was met with laughs from his classmates and an elbow to the side from Harumi.

"Knock it off, Naruto!" Sakura demanded. "Sit down!"

"Shut up, Sakura!" Harumi instantly defended her brother. Iruka cleared his throat, ceasing the laughter and fighting.

"After lunch you'll meet your new Jounin teachers, until then, class dismissed." Sasuke was gone in the blink of an eye. The girls looked around and then realized he was gone. Deciding they should get to know their teammates, they ate with them instead of hunting down the attractive male like they usually did. With the exception of Sakura, whom was teammates with Sasuke. Naruto hurried after her, Harumi on his heels. She'd rather not be around Sakura but it made her brother happy so she'd suck it up. Her sensitive ears picked up Sakura's whispering.

"Where'd he run off to so fast? Since were in the same group n all, I thought we could eat lunch together and get to know each other."

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto greeted the pinkette eagerly. "Since we're in the same group I was thinking we could all have lunch together and get to know each other!"

"Why would I eat lunch with _you_!? How could that thought even cross your mind?" She snarled harshly.

"But we're in the same group so you know I just thought…" He trailed off and she quickly filled the silence with her irritating, cruel toned voice.

"Naruto… You're annoying." She turned, face brightening up as she began calling out for Sasuke. Harumi fist was closed so tightly her fingernails dug in her palms. Naruto stalked off, depressed. Harumi went after Sakura, a dark aura emitting from her. She caught her shoulder and pushed the apple eyed girl into the tree and then slammed her palm into the bark just beside her head. The tree groaned and rattled from the force. Sakura swallowed nervously. That look from earlier was back and while she was scared of it, she was also mesmerized by it. Harumi's eyes were so beautiful and full of life. She could swear that in the depths of the blue orbs the colors shifted from darker to lighter and back again.

"Naruto is annoying? NARUTO is ANNOYING!?" Harumi shouted, using every ounce of self restraint she had to keep herself from pummeling the scrawny girl. Her fingers curled again, digging deep gouges in the tree from her claw like fingernails, making Sakura all the more nervous. "Do you even _listen_ to yourself when you talk, or is it just to hear your own voice. Do you know how many times I've wanted to rip your tongue out of your mouth from listening to you whine constantly and call out Sasuke's name like a broken record. You're pathetic, weak, annoying and hypocritical. I've never met someone who can piss me off as much as you can. I've imagined myself slamming your face into something hard – it changes quite often – over and over until you've been utterly defaced. You know, the **only** reason, I haven't beat you within six centimeters of your life is _because_ of Naruto."

Harumi was shaking now. There's nothing she'd love more than to just beat the hell out of that ignorant, blind, snob. And she couldn't wait till she got the chance. As teammates, sparring was inevitable and when it was her versus Sakura… ooo there was no way in heaven or hell she'd hold back.

"You follow after Sasuke like a lost puppy, but if he wanted you around, he wouldn't be running away from you. Don't you get that? YOU _annoy_ HIM! What the hell makes you think he wants to eat lunch with you or get to know you? You're so shallow. You don't know a single thing about him; except that he's good looking and is an excellent ninja and it's what you base your _love…_" That word came as cruel taunt. "of him from. It's repulsive and degrading, the way you trip over yourself for someone who couldn't care less about you. It's rather sad and I would pity you but you bring it on yourself. You keep treating my brother the way you are, and every day after training, you'll be sore and brusied and wishing you'd never laid eyes on Sasuke or even had been born."

With that, Harumi stalked off angerly. She was proud of herself from not slugging Sakura like she desperately wanted to. Now it was time to find and comfort Naruto.

She found him just as he was entered a building through a window, knocking over Sasuke – purposely. The window fell shut behind him and sounds of a struggle emitted from the room. Eventually, Sasuke emerged, but he smelled like Naruto. Harumi was surprised at first and then smiled proudly. Her brother took down Sasuke. She entered the building and smirked when she saw that her assumption was right. Sasuke lay tied up with tape over his mouth. She smashed her lips together as an attempt to keep herself from laughing, but like earlier, failed miserably. She never was any good at keeping her feelings in check. As carefully as possible, she took the tape off.

"He got you." She grinned.

"Yeah, yeah. Just hurry up and untie me."

"Mmm…" she hummed, her grin broadening as mirth swirled in her very big, very blue eyes as she blinked at him feigned innocence. It was very convincing. "What do you need me for? You're the _Great_ Sasuke Uchiha. Surely you can get out of this all by yourself."

He shot her a very un-amused look before performing the escape jutsu behind his back. She 'ooo'd with false interest and clapped like a children.

"One of these days…." He left the threat to her imagination.

"I look forward to it, Uchiha." She retorted playfully.

He rolled his eyes, but smirked nonetheless. "Come on, let's go find your brother."

Harumi doesn't know why she decided to go with him, or why she didn't offer her amazing nose to make the process go by quicker, but she didn't really care either. Harumi was an actor, not an analyzer. It was a rare moment to see this particular girl stop and wonder why she did or didn't do what she did or didn't do. She based things on the most simple thing, instinct, and went with it. This often came out as an 'I felt like it,' or 'Intuition,' when questioned about her motives.

Eventually, they happened across Sakura, whom was still within the area Harumi had ripped her a new one. She was sitting on a bench with coy expression, seemingly waiting for something. Upon noticing Sasuke, she shot up, glowing and blushing. Harumi found it rather disturbing, and she wasn't alone. Although, she the only one who visually expressed it. Sasuke ignored the girl and kept looking for the male counterpart to the Dummy Duo, as he heard so many affectionately refer to the two blonde twins of the academy so often.

Sakura let out a weird giggle sigh and Harumi had that feeling the characters in the game _Slender Man_ probably had when the creep popped up behind them. "Sasuke! You're back!"

_'She was still looking for him!?'_

"Don't be so shy you bad boy!" Harumi felt that hairs on the back of her neck stand up as the creep factor rose. This took disturbing to a whole new level and made Harumi concerned for the other girl's mental stability… on a number of levels.

Sasuke continued to ignore her, but she could tell from the stiffness in his shoulders and they way his gait changed that he was just as freaked out as her. He was just better at concealing it. Sakura remained oblivious and kept talking. Whoever said 'ignorance is bliss' never thought of this situation.

"Are you ready now? You know, mentally prepared, because I am! I mean, I'm rarin' to go!" She finally realized he wasn't paying attention and turned with a noise that Harumi could only describe with the word, 'desperate'.

"H-Hey! Wait a minute!" He stopped and reluctantly looked at her.

"Don't encourage the psycho!" Harumi hissed lowly. Sasuke's face remained stoic but a flash of amusement flicker in his eyes and they seemed to look like more of a pretty dark grey than that creepy black. If only for a second.

"Where's Naruto?" He asked, not wanting to hear anymore of her lunatic ramblings.

"OH see, there you go! Changing the subject again! Anyway, Naruto just picks fights with you! You know why he's so annoying? Cause he wasn't raised right? He doesn't have a mother or father. No one to teach him right from wrong and Harumi… she's no better, if not worse than Naruto, acting like a beast, going on rampages and literally growling at people. Think about it! They just do whatever comes into their heads!" Sasuke sent her a nasty look, but it again went unnoticed. He didn't like where this was going. She was so naive it was aggravating beyond belief.

_How can she say she loves him when she won't pay attention to his reactions, let alone be able to deduce them?_ Harumi gritted her teeth, and decided to listen to Sakura all the way through.

"If I did things like them, forget it! I mean, my parents would get mad and I'd get in trouble so of course I don't do it." His glare intensified.

_Does she not realize that Sasuke is also an orphan? That what she's saying could technically be applied to him as well?'_

"But if you don't have parents to tell you how could you know!? They're selfish and bratty. They're _all __**alone!**__"_

"Alone. Isolated."

"huh?"

"It's not about your parents scolding you. You have no idea what it means to be alone." Sasuke voice was cold and hollow like an empty metal bucket on a snowy winter night. He was right. It was about attention, getting people to look at you. Even if the reason stemmed from something bad, at least people were looking at you; acknowledging you exist. It was a chance to say, 'I'm here! Look at me!'.

"Wh- Why are you saying that!?"

"Because…" He turned, his eyes hard and very black. "…you're annoying." She gasped. "Let's go, Harumi."

"If you truly believe that your behavior comes from our lack age our parents, what is your excuse? You make fun of the sufferings of another person and then expect someone suffering from the same thing you just insulted another for suffering from to be happy with you? To agree?" Harumi shook her head in utter disappointment. She couldn't even bring herself to get angry at Sakura for that. She followed after Sasuke, leaving the stricken girl behind.

Harumi lead Sasuke to Naruto at a leisurely pace.

"Are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that. You're the one that got called a beast."

"I honestly don't care about Sakura's opinion of me, or any one's for that matter. I let myself feel my emotions with no filters so that makes me a beast? Whatever. You guys are the zombies. Choking down your real feelings and stuffing them in a bottle, pretending everything is okay when you know they're not, lying to friends so they don't have to worry? What good is any of that? How will that ever change the situation your in? If you don't tell people what's wrong, they can't help you. Sometimes you need others to be able to do something.

What the point of friends and comrades if you don't lean on them? It's what they're there for! When a friend helps you out, you don't thank them, you accept it because that's what friends are supposed to do. You thank them when they show concern, to show you appreciate the fact that they care and since their offering, let out everything so you don't keep letting it build up inside you. Who wants to always have some anger or sadness inside them 24/7? People were meant to laugh when they're happy and cry when they're sad and shout when they're angry.

What's the point of _feeling __**anything**_when we spend our whole lives trying to **not** feel anything. Why be born with emotions if you're just going ignore them? The answer is you're not supposed to ignore them. You're supposed to embrace and feel them. You know why Dragons are so strong and feared and beautiful? It's because they put their feelings into everything they do, including fights and it makes them stronger and more determined. Their natures purest and most dangerous and most beautiful creatures. And I'm so proud to call myself a Dragon."

Sasuke found himself a little awestruck when she finished. She was so passionate and she wasn't looking at him like that one big speech was supposed to change his outlook on life. She looked at him with hope that he understood and would come to embrace the 'Dragon' philosophy himself one day. This girl… she really was something else.

Just then Naruto came rushing out of the bathroom, killing whatever it was that was growing in his heart, and skidded to a halt.

Maybe, if Naruto hadn't interrupted at that moment, things wouldn't have turned out the way they had. Maybe they could have had endless days of fun and happiness and sadness to share together as they grew as ninjas and people.

"Ah! Sasuke!" Naruto shouted in alarm. "What are you doing here!? How did you get loose!?"

"I used the escape jutsu. No sweat. It's a very basic technique." Naruto sweat dropped at the simplicity of Sasuke's answer. He was expecting something more dramatic and overdone and hatefully amazing. "Why'd you do that? Transform into me." Thick brows pulled down in confusion.

"I thought it would be fun to try out my moves on you, so I did!" Naruto hopped back and made more Shadow clones. Harumi moved aside, not wanting to get caught up in their 'bro-to-bro battle'. Although, she wasn't really sure if bro, would be the right term for those two.

"Ah! The same technique again?"

"This time you'll see what I can really do!" One of the Naruto's announced.

"You're goin' down for the count!" Another taunted.

"Then you'll have to admit that I'm the best!"

"Get ready, Sasuke!" They dropped to the floor without laying a hand on the pale boy. They held their aching stomachs and began moaning and complaining about 'it' being back again and 'hurrying' before all of them dashed to the toilet and began fighting to get in first. Harumi let out a sign, but still found Naruto's antics to be rather endearing and entertaining. She turned and walked away with Sasuke as he muttered, 'What a loser.' This got him another elbow in the side.

"Ow! Hey!" He stared at her crossly. A couple of seconds passed. "Where are you going?" IT came out ruder than intended but Harumi didn't comment on it. Harshness was just Sasuke normal way of dealing with girls, or well, people in general. He really needed to work on his social skills.

"Back to the classroom. I'm hungry."

"Your brother ruined my lunch." Sasuke muttered. Harumi blinked, recalling the image of Naruto jumping him. She remembered seeing something white slip from Sasuke's hand.

_'It must've been a rice ball.'_

"Fine. I'll share my lunch with you. Luckily, I used some of those tomatoes today."

"I bought those for _me_."

"You bought my groceries for_ me_. I never said a certain item belonged to solely you or clarified what they would be used for. It's your own fault for assuming things." The conversation died and then, out of the blue, Harumi asked, "Hey, do you want me to make you lunches?"

Sasuke looked over and blinked. "Huh?" Harumi felt her irritation rise. She _**really**_ hated repeating herself.

"I expected a more intelligent response from you Uchiha. I _said_ do you want me to make you lunches? I often do it for Naruto and myself. It wouldn't be a problem to add you."

"Sure." Sasuke decided that either a 'Dragons' philosophy included no grudge holding, or Harumi was just seriously – oddly - terribly good-natured; in capable of being mad at someone for too long for one reason.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the Characters besides Harumi, and anyone who doesn't belong to the original Naruto plot.**

"He's late." Naruto huffed, peaking his head out the door to look up and down the hallway for any sign of what could be their new teacher.

"Naruto! Just sit down!"

"I don't want to!" Naruto defended himself.

"Seriously, Sakura. Just leave him alone. He's not hurting anyone." Harumi groaned. Being on a team with her was gonna get old fast. Naruto nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Why is our Teacher the only one that's late!? I'm ready to roll. Believe it!" He ranted. "The other groups already met their new teachers and took off on some new adventure or something and Iruka-sensei is gone too!"

"We know okay." Sakura breathed. Harumi stared out the window in a daze, thinking about nothing in particular. Banging noises reached her ears and she turned to investigate. Naruto was standing on a stool, trying to settle a used eraser between the door and point where it would touch to close. Any who walked into the room would have to dodge or catch it unless they wanted chalk all over their hair.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura asked, joining Naruto by the door. "Naruto!"

"That's what he gets for being late. Surprise!" Naruto hopped off the stool, excited to see if his prank would work.

"You're asking for trouble. You know you shouldn't do that." Sakura nagged Naruto like an old woman does children, but Harumi could see and feel the excitement she was really feeling. It made the blonde roll her eyes.

_'Putting on a show for Sasuke. What good is being with someone if you have to hide who you really are?'_

Sasuke scoffed at the foolishness. "Our teacher is a Jounin, an elite ninja. You think he'd fall for that?"

"Yeah, Sasuke's right! You're so clueless Naruto!"

"Pfft! Whatever." Harumi snapped. "Watch it work."

"Why would it?!" Sakura shot back.

"Because were ninja now and he's expecting us to be mature, which were not, therefore he won't be expecting any pranks!" Harumi deduced with pride towards her immaturity she probably shouldn't have. Sasuke sweat dropped.

_'Proud of immaturity, huh?' _He blinked, thinking back to her earlier speech. _'No, proud of her feelings and who she is, even if that means being proud of immaturity. Harumi's just a very self assured person and comfortable with all of who she is, including the faults.'_

Harumi blinked, confused as to why Sasuke was staring at her so intently and Sakura grew angrier by the minute with the amount of attention the blonde twit was getting from her 'love'. A hand covered in blue gloves that were similar to Harumi's grabbed the door edge and drew everyone's attention and they all waited. And it worked, turning a portion of the older man's hair from a pretty silver to powdery white, before landing on the ground.

Naruto full blown laughed and pointed while crying out his victory. Harumi turned away and tried to hide her laugh from the teacher. Sakura began to suck up, despite also celebrating on the inside.

"I'm sorry, Sensei. I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen. _I'd_ never do anything _like_ that." At least her acting was consistent. Sasuke looked very disappointed, starting to doubt his teacher's abilities.

The man picked up the fallen chalk eraser and stared at it.

"Hmm… how can I put this…" He set the chalk down on the desk and grabbed his chin. "My first impression of this group… you're a bunch of idiots."

All of their faces dropped.

"Says the guy who fell for the oldest trick in the book." Harumi retorted and he raised an eyebrow at her. As he expected of her. Dragons weren't creatures that were easy to push around, not just because of their immense size but there no nonsense, don't take others crap attitude. Insults and challenges were a good way to get a dragon railed up, but not intimidated and obviously, Harumi acted a lot like one.

The group of four followed their teacher up to the roof of the school. He leaned on the railing of the building, while the students sat on the three step stairs across from him. It went Sakura, on the middle step, Sasuke would be directly next to her, if he hadn't sat on the top step, Naruto next to Sasuke, also on the middle step and Harumi right next to him. Looking at them, they really could be twins; same height, same eye color, same hair color, same mischievous glint, same emotion based reactions and hyperness. Even the way they sat was practically the same; their legs were open, knees propped up with their hands in between them laying flat on the cool cement. The only difference was that Harumi had her ankles crossed.

"Why don't you introduce yourselves, one at a time." He offered.

"Introduce ourselves? Well, what are we supposed to say?" Sakura pressed.

He held his arms out as if to say, 'I don't know', but answered the question. "Things you like… things you hate… dreams for the future… hobbies… things like that." He crossed his arms again.

"Why don't you tell us stuff first?" Naruto suggested. "I mean, before we talk, tell us about you, so we can see how it's supposed to work."

"Me?" He pointed at himself. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate… mmm I don't feel like telling you that." Harumi frowned, her interest in the activity dropping and Naruto and Sakura gasped. "My dreams for the future… never really thought about it. As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies."

Harumi looked at him in utter un-impressment.

"That was useless." Sakura muttered crossly. "All he really told us was his name." Naruto nodded.

"And that he isn't really an open person. One of those guys that likes to be mysterious, maybe?" Harumi murmured and Sakura blinked. Harumi surprisingly put a lot of thought into people, how and why they act.

"Okay." Kakashi-sensei interrupted. "Your turn. You on the right, you first."

"Believe it!" Naruto began. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop, but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is different kinds of ramen and comparing them. It's a lot of fun when Harumi goes and experiments to make new flavors of ramen for me to add to the comparisons! Oh! Of course, I really like my sister too. She's great!" Both Harumi and Sakura were a bit touched by the affection Naruto held for his sister. Sakura was a bit envious of their bond, as was Sasuke. "And my future dream… is to be the GREATEST Hokage. Then the whole world will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody; somebody important!"

_'Well, he's grown up an a very interesting way…'_ It was yet to be determined if that were a good or bad thing.

"Alright, next."

"I'm Harumi Uzumaki. I love spending time with my friends and brother, and eating fire and sweets!"

_'She is already to the point in her training of being capable of inhaling flames?!'_ Kakashi was amazed. Maybe it was because she was so young when she started as to most Dragon Sages. Children were more adaptable and opened minded. That and Dragons were brutal when it came to training. Even Might Guy had nothing on the flying reptiles.

"I hate Sasuke's fan girls, their annoying as hell and incredibly fake and repeating myself, and anything that tastes bitter. My hobbies… training, cleaning, sleeping, cooking… the list goes on. My dream for the future? I want to complete my training as dragon some point in time, I want to help Naruto reach his goal, and…" A blush rose to her cheeks. "I want to find the one that is just for me…"

"What does that mean?" Kakashi pressed.

"Dragons are only allowed to love one person, kind of like soul mates, but it's a decision not a 'love a first sight' or 'imprint'. A Dragon's heart can only be held by two people, the owner and the lover, but touched by several others." There was a long pause.

"Next."

"I'm Sakura Haruno! What I like, I mean… who I like…Uh… I mean the person I like is…" Harumi's interest dropped like a rock as she realized this was going to be all about Sasuke, not Sakura as the pinkette threw a shy glance at the stoic male. Harumi fake coughed very convincingly and wheezed 'Sasuke' rather loudly in-between. "My hobby is uh…" She trailed off and Harumi's coughing resumed and this time she rushed out in a strained tone, 'stalking Sasuke and day dreaming naughty things about him'. That earned a glare and blush from Sakura and Sasuke's eye to twitch and for Naruto to pale.

"My dream for the future is!" Sakura squealed into her hands.

"Making babies with Sasuke." Harumi bluntly stated with a blank expression. Sakura buried her hands in her face from embarrassment and Sasuke made a noise of disgust in the back of his throat, eyebrow twitching every ten seconds. Kakashi was slightly amused by Harumi's antics, especially since it seemed like the comments were more to get a reaction out of Sasuke then to embarrass Sakura, but he was very un-impressed with Sakura. Her mental scores were great, exceedingly nearly everyone, but everything else? Not so much. "_And_ what do you hate?"

"Naruto and Harumi!" She shouted. Naruto let out a cry while Harumi was totally unaffected. Kakashi suppressed a sigh. _'Girls her age are more interested in boys than ninja training…'_

"Last one." Sakura waited anxiously.

"My name… is Sasuke Uchiha." Harumi's face went from interested, to disturbed by his tone, it was an odd mixture of nearly monotone with something else she couldn't place a name to but it was creepy. "I **hate** a lot of things and I don't particularity **like** anything."

Sakura was disappointed, eager to actually learn something about her crush while Harumi was confused.

_'What the hell happened to Okaka and Tomatoes and Rice balls!? Did they have fight?!'_

"What I _have_ is **not** a _dream_, because I **will** make it a _reality. I'm _going to restore _my clan_ and _destroy_ a **certain** _**someone**_."

The tension left could've been cut with a knife. Naruto was completely freaking out, Sakura was dazed, an expression on her face Harumi was sure would be exactly the same if the Uchiha had taken off his shirt instead of said all that. Kakashi had a deadly serious expression that said, 'I knew it'.

_'Well, that was very dark… except for…'_ With that, a fit of giggles began escaping her lips.

"What the hell are you giggling for!?" Sasuke snarled.

"Come on, Sasuke! I'm immature! What reaction were you expecting when you go and say something like 'I'm going to restore my clan...'" She attempted to copy the deep set of voice. "Poor girl! You want her to pop out a bunch of little Uchiha's!" Another fit of laughter. "I never knew doing the dirty could be so noble! Kinky." She winked playfully at her teammate, who flushed in return.

"Shut up. You're ridiculous and a werido."

She laughed. "Sorry, we all can't be as kinky as you!"

"Stop calling me that!" He groaned. In all honesty, he was kind of actually really enjoying the banter and teasing. Maybe this team thing wouldn't be so bad?

"Calling you what?"

"Kinky!" This cause a new roar of laughter to erupt from the girls mouth and she fell over holding her stomach. Naruto was also laughing and Sakura was doing her best to keep it together

"You said it! You actually said it! Buwahahahahahahaha! Naruto! He said kinky! Bufufufufu! It SOOO didn't sound right with his voice!" Naruto was just nodding. The two knuckled-headed twins were laughing so hard they were crying. "Ow! Ow! It hurts! Hahaha! Make it stop!" They started breathing sharply, almost like they were hyperventilating. They took one look at Sasuke and it started all over again. Sakura couldn't help it and joined in on their contagious laughter. Kakashi turned his face, shoulders shaking. A smile, a very tinie tiny one, but a smile crossed Sasuke's face. Harumi's laughter died instantly as her air passageways closed up and her eyes widened.

She'd never seen Sasuke smile, ever and in that instant, she could help how her heart skipped a beat or that, for the first time, she thought Sasuke was really attractive. He had a nice smile. She didn't know why it was nice. Maybe it was just because he was good-looking, or that Harumi was attracted to smiles, or maybe it was because it was s rare; like it was one of those things that were so fleeting and uncommon, it could only be described as beautiful.

Because the one that initiated the laughter stopped, everyone else did and stared at Sasuke.

"You… smiled." It was gone now though and Sakura frowned in disappointment at having missed it. An extreme amount of kindness and warmth entered Harumi's eyes, her entire being as she smiled at the tragic boy softly, amazing everyone. How could someone so young and immature look so old and wise all of a sudden? There was something almost motherly about it. "You have a nice smile. You should do it more often."

Sasuke said nothing and looked away. He'd never say it allowed but that look she was giving him was flustering him, and he was sure, as long as he was in this team, and nothing changed, his smiles would grow bigger and more frequent. He could let go of that hatred, so long as that girl was by his side. Her light, as bright as the sun, would dissipate all his shadows and illuminate him and he could walk down a different path he couldn't see before; a path that involved others and warmth and light and... her.

"Good. You're all unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

Naruto perked up. "What kind of mission are we going to have!?"

"It's a task… the five us will do together."

"What! What! Whaat!?" Naruto pressed eagerly.

"A survival exercise." Kakashi answered simply.

"Huh? A survival exercise?" Naruto lost his previous excitement.

"I thought we were supposed to have a _real_ mission!" Sakura exclaimed, "not more practice." Sasuke remained quiet, like Harumi, and waited further elaboration. "We already did this stuff at the academy. That's how we got here."

"This is not like your previous training." Kakashi brushed off their accusations.

"So, um… So, um… what is it then?" Naruto pressed. He didn't understand how survival exercise could be anything but survival exercise. Kakashi chuckled darkly.

"Hey, that's a normal question. What's so funny?" Sakura leered.

"If I tell you, you're not going to like it~." Kakashi teased, waving his hand before placing it on his covered face, shadows sharpening his features. "Of the 28, graduates who just came here, only 9 or 10 will actually be accepted as Genin. The other 18 or 19 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make-it or break-it, pass-fail, test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%." Naruto looked like he'd been electrocuted, Sakura made a face that was cross between, accepted doom and depression and Sasuke looked dangerous and focused. Harumi… remained unfazed, her face blank. The prospect of failing a test was never scary for her. She'd purposely failed tests just to remain by Naruto's side. It's not like if they failed someone would die or be banned from being a ninja. They were young; there was no need to rush things. They'd get there eventually. At least, that's how she saw it.

"Didn't I tell you, you wouldn't like it?"

"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here! Believe it!" Naruto protested. "What was that graduation test for anyway!"

"Oh, that? Well, that was just to select candidates who might become Genin… or not." He added as an afterthought.

"Whaaat!?"

"That's how it is. I decided whether you pass or fail." Harumi sweat dropped. _And we certainly hurt our chances with that stunt earlier._

"Be at the designated training spot at 5a.m. and _bring your ninja gear_."

Naruto was shaking with frustration and anticipation, determined not to fail.

'_I'm not going to be weeded out. People are gonna look up to me someday. Believe it. __**Believe it!**__'_

_ 'If I fail I'll be separated from Sasuke! This is a trail of love!'_

Sasuke gripped his already clasped hands.

"That's it, you're dismissed." He almost left. Almost. "Oh, tomorrow, you'd better skip breakfast or else… you'll puke."

Naruto's and Sakura's eyes widened while Sasuke's narrowed and Harumi closed hers in a smile. _'Kakashi-sensei's so dramatic!'_

"Naruto! Eat something beside ramen! We have a big test tomorrow!" Harumi scolded her brother. "Eat some brain food, preferable something green!"

"No! Especially not that nasty green stuff. It tastes like grass! Do I look like an Earth Dragon to you!?"

"NAru-" A knock on the door cut her off. She sent him a look that said 'this isn't over' before hurrying to answer the door. Naruto just 'hmphed', glaring at his noodles as he waited for those awful three minutes to pass. Harumi was half-surprised to see Sasuke standing at her door, kicking the ground awkwardly with his hands in his pockets.

"Sasuke?"

"Sasuke!" Naruto echoed from behind her as a thud resounded from the kitchen.

"Um… the offer… if it still stands… we have a big test and we have to skip breakfast so I was thinking a good meal would be best…" He trailed off, uncertain.

"What offer!?"

"Of course! I said anytime, anywhere!"

"Ehhh?! Anytime, anywhere what!?" Naruto never thought of Sasuke as a playboy but the Sasuke hovering over his blushing sister was so wrong. It was even worse when the picture moved. Sasuke began pulling down Harumi's tank top straps, her voice came out soft and wavering, 'Ah, no, Sasuke, don't…' "Don you do anything weird to my sister, teme!" Naruto was ignored. He'd been reading too many of those dirty magazines.

"Actually, you said whatever, whenever." He corrected her. Harumi narrowed her eyes at the male.

"Do you want dinner?" Sasuke jumped and stepped in without another word. "Mmm-hmm, that's what I thought. Follow me."

The two were met with a murderous glare from Naruto as they entered the tiny kitchen. Sasuke returned it while Harumi ignored it.

"Hey, what do you want?" Sasuke reluctantly broke away from the glaring contest with Naruto to look at the petite girl.

"I don't know."

"Well, figure it out."

"Lasagna," It was the first thing that came to his head. She blinked. "Okay, but that's going to take a bit. I wished you'd said something sooner, so you could've eaten at a decent time."

He shrugged. It didn't really matter to him. He was more concerned with her personality. Nice, rude, nice, nice, rude, rude, rude, rude, nice. Trying to find out how she was going to react was just as frustrating as it was fun. She was like a big riddle, and right when you thought you had her down, she did something that screwed up your answer and you'd have to start again. At least he'd never get bored around her.

"Naruto, show Sasuke to the living room and let him watch whatever he wants."

"Eh? Why-"

His sister was glaring at him darkly and he swallowed. "Sasuke-chama is our guest. I expect you to treat him delicately and respectfully. Do. You. Under. Stand?" Her eyes narrowed even more. Naruto yelped a 'yes, ma'am!', tenderly hooked Sasuke's arm with his own and led him away. Both boys were sweating and very pale, the same thought running through their heads.

'_A demon… that was… a demon…'_

Turns out, the two had a similar taste in t.v. shows and they stared blankly at the bright screen, occasionally turning their heads to glare at one another – every commercial break for the entirety of the break – before resuming their blank expressions as they watched the show. The other would occasionally glance over to see if the others facial expression changed on a certain part they considered funny, only to see no change. Internally they raged at this but said nothing. Multiple times, they looked at each other at the same time.

"Sasuke! Dinner!" The boy tensed, eyes widening as another voice, his mother's voice, entered his head saying the exact same words and a sharp pain sliced into his heart and needles pricked his eyes. Harumi continued to call out for Sasuke, but her words changed into his mother's voice, keeping him in the trance. The look on Sasuke's face stunned Naruto into silence. Harumi finally entered the living room, spatula in hand, an apron on. She was prepared to the knock the raven haired boy on the head with it… until she saw Naruto's face. She hurried foreword and sadness overtook her face when she was the boy's haunted – tormented – expression.

_'He must've really loved his family.'_

She waved Naruto off as she set the spatula down and hugged Sasuke. Naruto left without a word and retreated to his room.

"Sasuke…" Harumi's voice was gentle, like a soft breeze. She hugged him, and held him close. "It's okay. Well, I mean, no, it's not. But it will, eventually. Those wounds – all wounds – become scars. They'll never really go away. It helps to think of the happier moments instead of their last moments and to remember that they'll live on in your memories and your heart. But the manner in which they live on depends on you. It's hard and it hurts and being alone isn't going to help. Surround yourself with friends, make a new family. They'll never be able to replace the ones you lost, but they can distract you from ache and help your wounds stop bleeding. Grow up and marry a woman you love that loves you and create your own family. Someday, you'll be able to look back with just a smile and decide, 'it's alright'. Someday."

"What are you? An excessively long fortune cookie." Sasuke scoffed, embarrassed about his display. Harumi smiled, happy that he was back to normal.

"Yeah, I am! And this fortune cookie says that if you don't go and eat your dinner before it gets cold you'll get a 100,000 spankings with a spatula from Harumi-chan-sama-san-chama-pyon!"

He got up and headed toward the kitchen. At the entryway, he stopped and looked over his shoulder with a smirk. "Kinky."

Harumi's cheeks flushed.

That night, after Sasuke thanked her for the meal and left, Harumi snuck into Naruto's room and curled up against her beloved brother and she held his hand tightly. Naruto was more than happy to return the gesture. It'd been awhile since either of them had snuck into the others bed for the night. They both missed it. Neither of them could imagine life without the other anymore.

Harumi had gotten up before the sun and hurried Naruto along, eating an apple as she did so. She offered Naruto one, but he refused. Now, they were on their training field for their big and last test.

"Morning." Sakura greeted, still a little tired. Naruto was so tired he couldn't even utter actual words, only groans and had to be lead by Harumi. She was half asleep, her hair still a mess from the night's sleep, because she hadn't felt like brushing it. Sasuke was wide awake and perfectly fine. Harumi mentally cursed him out for it. Hours passed, the sun rose and Kakashi still wasn't there.

Harumi muttered a 'Fuck it,' and fell face first onto the floor and went back to sleep, Naruto sat beside her. More time passed and Naruto fell asleep, head on his knees, and Sakura had joined, although still awake. Sasuke remained standing, arms crossed, but he'd put his bag in the pile, tried of its weight. A couple hours before noon, Kakashi finally arrived.

"Good morning everyone. Ready for your first day?" He greeted his temporary students casually. He received nasty glares from them all... except Harumi whom was still asleep. He sweat dropped as she blushed childishly and then made a weird noise. "Fire~" Anyone who didn't know her background would be very disturbed by that.

"Hey! You're late!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way." Sakura and Naruto made noises of disapproval. He cleared his throat.

"Now, let's get started." He walked over to the stump and set an alarm clock down. "Here we go. It's set for noon." He pushed down the button. Harumi's ears twitched at the noise and then she made another odd noise. "Your assignment is very simple. All you have to do is take one of these bells from me. That's all there is to it." He held up three silver bells with red string and bounced them, making them jingle. "If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch. You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you."

Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke frowned, unhappy.

_'So that's why…'_

_'He told us not to eat breakfast to make it harder on us….'_

"Wait a minute! There's four of us, how come there are only three bells." Sakura asked.

Kakashi smiled kindly. "Well, that way, at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy." None of them liked the sound of that. "Then again, all four of you could fail. You can use any weapons, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells." Using the red string, he pulled the said items into his hand.

"Those weapons are too dangerous, Sensei!" Sakura protested, concerned. Naruto laughed.

"Especially when you couldn't even dodge that eraser."

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them." Kakashi taunted. "Lowest scores, losers." Naruto growled. "When I say start, you can begin." Naruto's anger continued to rise; a temper is definitely something he had in common with Harumi. He whipped out a kunai and charged Kakashi. It was easily turned back on him, even though he was still holding it.

"Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say start yet." Naruto made noises of discomfort until Kakashi finally released him. Sasuke and Sakura skittered back, the latter nearly tripping over Harumi's sleeping form.

_'He's so fast!'_

_ 'So this is a Jounin.'_

"But you came at me with the full intention of destroying me, so… how can I say this?" Kakashi laughed. "I'm actually starting to like you guys. Get ready… start!" They took off to hide.

"Ninja must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively." Kakashi announced already learned information. _'Well, they understand that much. They've hidden well.'_

Then he noticed Naruto, standing out in the open, arms crossed. "You and me, right now, fair and square!" Naruto yelled. "Let's go!"

Kakashi immediately became concerned for the hyperactive boy's mental health and he was very confused.

"You know compared to the others… you're a little bit… weird." He eyed the tiny girl _still_ on the ground sleeping away. "You and your sister."'

"Oh yeah, the only thing weird here is your haircut." Naruto shot back. Naruto charged with a battle cry. Kakashi just stared at him, no emotion and reached inside of his pouch. Naruto skidded to a halt and jumped back a bit.

"Shinobi battle techniques, part 1: Taijutsu, the physical art."

'_Taijutsu? That's had to hand combat! Then why is he reaching for a weapon!?'_

Kakashi whipped out an orange book.

"What the…!?"

"What are you waiting for? Make your move." The one eyed man urged.

"Why are you reading that book?" Naruto questioned.

"Why? To find out what happens in the story. Don't worry with your weak attacks; it doesn't really matter if I'm reading or whatever." Naruto's rage returned, full blast.

"I'm going to crush you!" He declared. His punch was easily stopped with one hand. He dropped to the floor and tired to kick the man in the face, but Kakashi simply ducked.

"Now you're mine!" But his fist only connected with air.

"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time." Kakashi sighed.

_'A hand sign to focus his Chakra!'_ Sakura inwardly gasped. _'Is that the sign of the tiger? That's dangerous! He could destroy Naruto with that!'_

_'That hand sign is for a fire jutsu. He's not just toying the Naruto, he's going to demolish him.'_

"Naruto, get out of there, quick! He's going to destroy you!"

Naruto glanced over in her direction as Harumi released a squeal. "Rose Petal Fire!~" Everyone sweat dropped.

"Too late. Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu!" Kakashi declared and jammed his fingers up Naruto's butt, much to Sakura's disgust. "A thousand years of death!" Naruto was sent flying into the pond with a cry of pain.

"That wasn't a hand sign at all. He just poked him." She muttered. Harumi suppressed the strong urge to laugh.

"Those two are just… total idiots." Sasuke was severely disappointed in them. Kakashi quickly returned to his book, glancing back at Harumi. He had suspected she was faking but since she didn't laugh, she really must be sleeping. Sasuke moved for his weapons, hesitating, uncertain.

_'That must be against the rules. He's a Jounin, we can't possibly match his strength.'_

Naruto glared at nothing in particular as he allowed himself to sink to the bottom of the pond. '_I'm not gonna let it end like this.' _He started swimming up, reaching for his weapons. _'I'll attack from the water… NOW!'_ He threw shuriken, but they were easily caught. Sasuke dropped his hand.

Naruto drug himself out of the pond, hacking and soaking wet.

"What are you doing now? You know, you won't get lunch, unless you take a bell by noon."

"I know already!" Naruto snapped.

"You look pretty wobbly for someone who's going to surpass the Hokage." Naruto's stomach growled.

"You told us not to eat breakfast! How am I supposed to fight when I'm starving to death!"

This made both Sasuke's and Sakura's stomachs growl.

_'Breakfast? I didn't even have __**dinner**__ last night! Really bad idea to go on a diet.'_

"So you caught me off guard! That's all it was, believe it! I'm… so hungry, I don't have any strength, but I can't let that stop me! I gotta get one of those bells no matter what! I'll find the strength somehow. Believe it!" Naruto glared heatedly at his sensei. "I'm gonna pass this test and I'm NOT going back to the academy. I _will_ become a ninja."

Several more Naruto's hopped out of the water. "You're over confident, Sensei! That's why you weren't ready for a shadow clone attack, my best jutsu!"

_'Seven Naruto's?' _Sakura stared hard. _'What!? They're not images! They're real! How'd he do that!?'_

_ '_"So the rumors are true. He **can** create shadow clones." Kakashi mused. "Good technique, but I don't think you can use it for very long. You talk like you're the best, Naruto, but you're still the worst student. You can't beat me with this jutsu."

Just then, another Naruto, grabbed onto Kakashi's back, shocking the man. Sasuke and Sakura were impressed. Naruto laughed.

"Didn't you say don't let your enemies get behind you? Good advice sensei. Believe it!" Six more Naruto's clung to Kakashi's legs immobilizing him. "I had one of my clones come out of the river and sneak up behind you super quiet."

"Now this is for nailing me in the butt earlier!" The Naruto not yet touching Kakashi announced.

_'When did Naruto get so cool!'_

_ 'A diversionary tactic, nice."_

"You're mine and so are those bells!" Naruto's fist made contact, with another Naruto's face, which was in Kakashi's place. All Naruto's became confused.

"He's holding himself." Sakura whispered. "Naruto… PUNCHED… **NARUTO!**"

"It's you," He muttered and then got angry. "You're Kakashi-sensei, aren't you!? You transformed into me using a jutsu!" All Naruto's began fighting and accusing one another of being Kakashi and insulting one another until one said they should undo the jutsu. There was a fight about that and then he finally undid it and was out there alone, beat up and tired.

_'Naruto… you are so NOT cool.'_

_ 'He got you with a replacement jutsu, loser. That Jounin was so smooth he made Naruto look like a total moron.'_

Naruto glared at the floor until he noticed a fallen bell and got excited, thinking he got the better of Kakashi. Without a second thought, he leaped for it. "He dropped a bell!"

Before he could touch it, a rope closed around his ankles and lifted him up into the air, bouncing him around.

"Hey! Hey! Let me down! What is this!?"

_'Of course it was a trap.'_

"Somebody!"

_'That Jounin doesn't let down his guard, even when he's fighting a fool like Naruto.'_

"The bell." Naruto attempted to stretch out his body to reach it to no avail. Kakashi popped in and casually picked it up with a sigh.

"Think before you use a jutsu or your opponent might use it against you." Naruto groaned. "Oh! And, also, if the bait is _obvious_, **don't take it.**" That got the blonde angry and he wriggled about growling. "A ninja must see through deception."

"I. GET. IT!" Naruto huffed.

"I'm telling you this because you **don't** get it. You _think_ you get it, which is not the same as _actually_ getting it, get it?" Sasuke stared at Kakashi and came to a realization.

_'This is my chance!'_

He pulled out shuriken, aimed and threw.

_'He finally dropped his guard!'_

"Won't you ever learn?" Right as he finished that sentence, Sasuke weapons collided with his body, knocking him to the ground, blood flying from the wounds.

"He just got blasted by Shuriken! Are you out of your mind, Sasuke! You went too far!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the Characters besides Harumi, and anyone who doesn't belong to the original Naruto plot.**

~ Re-cap ~

"Think before you use a jutsu or your opponent might use it against you." Naruto groaned. "Oh! And, also, if the bait is _obvious_, **don't take it.**" That got the blonde angry and he wriggled about growling. "A ninja must see through deception."

"I. GET. IT!" Naruto huffed.

"I'm telling you this because you **don't** get it. You _think_ you get it, which is not the same as _actually_ getting it, get it?" Sasuke stared at Kakashi and came to a realization.

_'This is my chance!'_

He pulled out shuriken, aimed and threw.

_'He finally dropped his guard!'_

"Won't you ever learn?" Right as he finished that sentence, Sasuke weapons collided with his body, knocking him to the ground, blood flying from the wounds.

"He just got blasted by Shuriken! Are you out of your mind, Sasuke! You went too far!"

~ Story Start ~

Everyone waited and then in a puff of smoke, Kakashi became a log with several kunai and shuriken sticking out of it.

_'Gah! Another substitution jutsu!'_ Sasuke darted out of his spot and raced along the branches_. 'And now he knows where I'm hiding. Got to move fast. I thought he lowered his guard, but he did that on purpose. And I fell for it!'_

_ 'So that's where he is.'_ Kakashi mused from his own hiding spot. He chuckled to himself.

'_Sasuke, where'd you go!? Don't tell me Kakashi-sensei found you!'_ Sakura fretted as she hurried in the direction Sasuke went, though not nearly as fast. _'Nooo! He can't capture __**my**__ Sasuke. I won't __**let**__ him.' _Last minute, Sakura realized Kakashi was ahead, reading his book. She dropped to the floor and hid behind a bush. _'Phew! He didn't hear me! I'm safe.'_

"Sakura, behind you!" a familiar voice whispered and she spun, coming face to face with Kakashi-sensei. She let out a high pitched scream, scaring Harumi, but she remained in her state of false sleep. Actually, she was drifting in and out of sleep, but she wasn't any less aware when sleeping than when awake. In fact, she's probably more aware when she's sleeping.

"A ninja must see through deception!" Naruto mocked Kakashi. "Yeah, yeah. How am I supposed to do that!" He leaned up, determined not to fall for anymore of Kakashi's tricks and cut his rope. He landed on his feet smugly, only to be pulled up back into the same position. "I fell for it again!"

Kakashi performed a jutsu that made Sakura's eyes glaze over and leafs to swirl around her; The type of jutsu that would require verbally announcing it for Harumi to be affected by it. When she came back to the world, Kakashi was gone and she wasn't sure what had happened.

"Oh my!" She blinked and then floor both ways."Someone one there?" She did it again and then looked up before putting her finger on her chin thoughtfully. "I think I felt something! What was it?!" She gripped her head, digging her fingers into her silky locks. "What's going on!?"

"Sakura…" Sasuke wheezed. She whirled around, ecstatic. Horror over ran her system. He was injured by several kunai and shuriken, the weapons sticking out of various parts of his body and bleeding heavily. "S-Sakura… He-Help me! Please, Help me!"

Tears welled in her eyes and then she let out a scream and fell down, unconscious.

_'I… think I over did it a bit, but… she's got to learn to see through these things.'_

Sasuke, in full health and not leaking any red liquid, looked over his shoulder as the scream reached his ears. "Hmm? Sounded like… Sakura." It was female and Harumi didn't strike him as a screamer – plus, she was probably still snoring away – so it had to be the pinkette.

"Shinobi battle skills, part 2: the illusion jutsu. Sakura studied it in class but she _still_ couldn't see it coming."

_ 'Genjutsu. It's just simple mind control. I'm not surprised he caught Sakura with it, but…'_

"I'm not like Sakura, Naruto and Harumi."

"Say that after you get one of these bells, _my Sasuke._" Kakashi teased him. They faced each other and had a stare off. Sasuke made the first move, throwing more weapons. Kakashi dodged to the right.

_'There's no point using normal attacks.'_ He mentally chided his current student. Sasuke threw one more kunai, cutting a rope.

_'A trap!'_ He barely had time to dodge the set of weapons coming his way, but it was no sweat off his back. Until Sasuke appeared behind him. He blocked Sasuke kick and then grabbed his ankle. Sasuke then went for a punch, which was caught. He used that position as leverage to raise up his free leg and bring it down on Kakashi This flipped him completely upside down and left a hand free. He smirked and reached for the bells.

_'This kid…'_

He pushed Sasuke away and jumped back, but the boy was able to tap a bell before he could put distance between them.

_'He's fierce. Hmm, I won't be able to read 'Make-Out Paradise' now.'_ Sasuke was glowering darkly at him, teeth gritted.

Sakura began to wake up and sat up, her legs open. "Wh- What happened?" She realized how she was sitting and quickly shut her legs. She gasped, the memory of Sasuke beaten and bloody returning to her. _'Sasuke! I saw him! He was on the verge of… No!'_

She stood, looking for her long time crush. "Sasuke, no! You've got to survive! Please! Where are you!?"

Naruto still hung from the tree, thinking of what to do. He was a little mad at Harumi. Last night she yelled at him about eating right for their big test and she was sleeping through the whole thing! He spotted two boxes by a big, specially carved stone. He realized they were lunch boxes and hurried over to them to fill his greedy gut.

"Well," Kakashi murmured. "You **are** different from the other three, more so from Naruto and Sakura than Harumi, I'll grant you that."

Sasuke scoffed and began making hand signs. _'Horse, Tiger. Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!'_

Kakashi was dumbfounded and disbelieving. _'What!? Genin can't do fire jutsu! Takes too much Chakra! There's no way!_

But sure enough, fire escape Sasuke's mouth, forming a large fire ball where Kakashi was seemingly still standing. Eventually, it disappeared leaving behind a scorched dent in the ground and a pillar of smoke rising from it. But Kakashi was gone, surprising Sasuke. He looked around anxiously.

_'Where did he go!? Behind me? Above!?'_

"Where?" Kakashi drawled. Sasuke pinpointed where he was but it was too late. Kakashi reached out of the ground and grabbed onto the boys leg. "I'm where you least expect me." Deep screams emitted from Sasuke as he was dragged down. Now he was neck deep in the earth and Kakashi was crouched in front of him. "Right under your feet. Earth Style: Head-Hunter Jutsu."

Sasuke tried to move, but couldn't. He could barely wiggle his fingers. "Can't move, huh? That was Ninjutsu, the third Shinobi battle skill. You have talent and you were right. You _are…_ different from the others. But different isn't always better." Kakashi turned and began walking away, pulling out his book. "They say the nail that sticks up, is the one that gets hammered down."

"Great!" Sasuke snarled, glaring at the man.

Naruto laughed gleefully, the lunch boxes stacked in front of him. "Sensei told us that if we don't get a bell, then we don't get any lunch! But if I eat my lunch now there's nothing he can do! It's chow time!"

"Hi there." Kakashi greeted Naruto, whom freaked out before his face dropped.

"I was just… joking Sensei."

"Nice try." Naruto was promptly tied to the middle post and then Kakashi approached Harumi. He had expected the most from her, and here she slept through the whole thing. If anyone was going to understand this exercise, it was the girl who got top marks in cooperation.

He stopped beside the tiny girl and then suddenly found himself on his back. She had moved so quick, swinging her body around and kicking his feet out from under him. She leaped over his frame, palms landing flat on the ground. Harumi's left hand curled into a fist before she pushed off the ground and landed on her feet a good distance away before darting into the woods. Kakashi blinked in confusion.

What was that? She was actually awake? And she ran off when she had his guard down? He looked to the side and realized, with a jolt, two of the three bells were missing.

_'That sneaky little… she did the least work out of all four of them and she got TWO bells!'_

Harumi gritted her teeth as she ran. She was aiming for all three but the way they landed, her small hands could only grasp the one, or two, so two is was. She wasn't sure how much longer she could sit around and wait for him to finally approach her. It took him long enough. At the same time, it's a good thing, because the amount of time needed to play keep away is shorter. She knows she can't hold off the Jounin a_nd_ keep the bells. Hell, she's still shocked her little trick worked. They would need to band together to beat him, but **that **was never gonna happen.

She skidded to a halt as he appeared in front of her and tossed the bells inside her mouth, and locked her jaw. She crouched.

"I shouldn't have underestimated you. You were waiting for me, bidding your time. Patience is a virtue, especially for ninjas. To be honest, I didn't know Fire Dragon's were capable of patience." She scowled at him. Just then, the bell rang, but she didn't drop her guard.

"It's fine, Harumi. If you have them after the bell has rung, their yours." The only movement was her eyelids coming closer together in suspicion. "Really. I promise." A couple more seconds passed and she finally relaxed, spitting the bells into her hand. Together, they walked back to the posts.

"I've been wanting to thank you."

Kakashi stumbled from shock and looked over at her, confused. "For what?"

"That day, when Houka died, you saved me. That was you, wasn't it? That man in the animal mask that found me and took me to Konoha and suggested I live with Naruto."

"How-?!"

She smiled at him kindly and tapped her nose. "A dragon has a nose ten times better than a dog. I memorized your scent. I knew who you were the moment you stepped into the classroom yesterday."

"You're very skilled."

"Not skilled enough. Why do you think I ran even though I only got two bells? I know I can't take you on alone, none of us can. If we teamed up, hell yeah! But Naruto likes to do things on his own, Sasuke thinks all of us will slow him down and Sakura is too obsessed with Sasuke to think of anything else. She'll agree to whatever he says." Harumi explained bitterly. Her teammates really annoyed her.

"You pay attention to your teammates." Kakashi observed.

"I've been around them for years. You pick up on those things. No big deal." Harumi waved dismissively at him. He stared at the small girl

_'No, you LOOK at people Harumi. It's why you realized early on teamwork was impossible in this group as they are now and made a plan to still complete the mission instead of waste time arguing and chasing them around. And it's that ability to understand others so well that makes me worry about you. It'll be your undoing._

When Kakashi and Harumi entered the clearing, Sasuke and Sakura were already there with a tied up Naruto. Harumi quickly joined her teammates, slipping the bells into both Sasuke's and Naruto's pockets unnoticed. She sat down between Naruto and Sasuke.

"Uh, oh, stomachs growling, huh? That's too bad." Kakashi mused with dry humor. "Oh, by the way, about this exercise, well, I've decided I won't send any of you back to the academy."

Naruto smiled happily. Sakura was shocked.

"What? I passed? All I did was faint and fall over. Do you get points for that?" Inside she was shouting, 'Love wins out! Cha, cha, cha!'

Sasuke smirked. Sakura hopped up, screaming 'yay' and moved in odd ways. Naruto jerked his legs up and down excitedly, like a baby would.

"Then! Then! That means all four of us! All four of us!"

"You three… are being dropped from the program, **permanently**, as Harumi goes on to be my only student."

Horror coursed through Sakura, Naruto and Harumi. Permanently! He couldn't drop Naruto from the program permanently! They were gonna be ninjas together. Naruto was gonna become Hokage… and Sasuke… it's all he lives for… If that gets taken away, what will he do? Sasuke glared at Kakashi.

"Drop us from the program!? But that means we can never be ninja! You said if we couldn't take the bells we'd be sent back to the academy. You can't just change your mind and kick us out! Why would you do that!?" Naruto shouted irately with a tinge of panic.

"Because you don't think like ninja You think like little kids, like brats." Sasuke was none too pleased with that comment and charged at Kakashi, one hand on his kunai pouch. Both Sakura and Harumi inched forward, stunned by the sudden attack. Sasuke was easily detained by Kakashi; shoved onto the ground with Kakashi sitting on his back, a foot on his head, and an arm pulled behind his back.

"You think it's all about you." Kakashi finished.

"Let go of Sasuke! You can't step on him like he's some bug!" Sakura shrieked, waterfalls of tears coming out of her enraged eyes. Sasuke glared at nothing in particular, groaning every now and then from Kakashi's weight.

"You don't know what it means to be a ninja. You think it's a game." Kakashi scolded them. A look of dismay was shared between Sakura and Naruto. "Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment?" He inquired coldly.

"Uh… I don't know what you mean! Anyways, why does Harumi get to pass when we don't?!" Sakura asked, a bit peeved.

"Because Harumi understood what the exercise was about, unlike the rest of you. She only saw it as the way to get the bells, when, in reality, it was the key to passing, And she got two bells, which I believe are most likely in Naruto's and Sasuke's possession now." Naruto shook his leg experimentally and sure enough, a jingle resounded from it. He smiled appreciatively at his sister. She was always looking out for him. And then frowned. And now that consideration apparently extended to Sasuke.

"What it's about?" Naruto pressed, confused. He thought it was about getting the bells. But he had a bell and he was s_till _failing. Harumi was just as confused as well.

"Yes. That's what determines whether you pass or fail."

"But that's… I mean I wanted to ask you about that from the beginning." Sakura mumbled.

Kakashi scoffed. "Use your head. Four people on squad, why do you think we would do that?"

Harumi's eyes widened in realization. Team work. If she hadn't explained that she would need her team to take him down, she would be failing as well, but he knows she considered teamwork and that's why he's passing her.

"How are we supposed to know why you picked four people?! Heck, most squads only have three!" Naruto snapped, paying too much attention to trivial things. "We didn't make the rules."

"It's so basic." Kakashi sighed exasperatedly. "Harumi?"

"Team work." The sunny haired girl answered, looking off into the woods. The three tensed up, eyes widening while Harumi sighed. They all could've passed together.

"Just working together, is that what you mean?" Harumi slapped herself in the face and then drug it down before giving Sakura a look that side 'you've got to be kidding me'. Of course that's what he meant! What else could he mean by that?!

"That's what I mean." His tone was mocking. "It's too late now, but if all four of you had come at me, you might have been able to take them. Harumi is convinced that you definitely could have. Well, anyway it's over."

The bells still confused Sakura. "You set it up with four people but only three bells. If you we worked together and got the bells only three of us could keep them and that would lead to group conflict and the squad would break up!" She deduced.

"Exactly. I purposely pitted you against each other." They didn't like the sound of that. "I wanted to see if you could overcome that and put the _squad_ ahead of _yourselves_. A Genin should have a natural feel for teamwork, but _you_… it never even crossed your mind. Sakura!"

She gasped, standing up straight. "You obsessed about Sasuke, who was gone while Naruto was right in front of you and you wouldn't life a finger to help him." She looked down, embarrassed and ashamed.

"Naruto!" The hyperactive boy gulped. "You do everything on your own, _everything._" He was also ashamed.

"And you, Sasuke…" Kakashi pressed his foot down harder on Sasuke's head. "… thought the others were so far beneath you, they were worthless, when there's one who on par with you, if not better. Arrogance." Kakashi hissed.

"Ninja missions are carried out in _squads_. Of course you need individual skills, but teamwork is the most essential element. Every Shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves above the squad, this can lead to failure _and_ **death**. For example," Kakashi pulled a kunai out of his pouch and put it to Sasuke's neck. Harumi instantly tensed. "Sakura, **kill** Naruto, _now_, or Sasuke **dies**."

The two flipped out. Harumi remained calm. She knew Kakashi-sensei wouldn't actually hurt Sasuke and that it was just for show. She still thought it was a bit too far.

"That's what happens on a mission." Kakashi announced coolly, removing his knife from Sasuke's throat.

"Oh boy, that was really scary." Sakura breathed.

Kakashi was spinning the kunai with his pointer finger. "The enemy takes a hostage and you've got an impossible choice and someone ends up dead." He put the weapon away and got off of Sasuke. "On every mission, your life is on the line." He walked towards the neatly carved stone as Sasuke slowly pulled himself up. "Did you look at this stone? The names engraved on it? They are all ninja who are honored as heroes in our village."

"That's it! That's it! That's it!" Naruto exclaimed. "Now I know. I've decided I'm gonna have my name engraved on that stone!"

Harumi's heart missed a beat in a bad way. She hoped Naruto didn't know what that stone really was cause she wasn't ready to lose her brother, present or future.

"I'm not gonna live and die for nothing, like a dog! I'm gonna be a hero! A hero!" Sasuke finally reached his team again. Kakashi looked at Naruto over his shoulder.

"They are a special kind of hero." There was a melancholy tinge to Kakashi's voice and Harumi knew he had a friend or two on there.

"Huh? What kind of heroes are they? Come on! Tell us!"

"Naruto." Harumi hushed him softly. He looked over at his sister, confused before returning his attention to Kakashi-sensei.

"Well, well!" He prodded.

"They are all K.I.A."

"Ooo," Naruto breathed. "That sounds real cool!"

"It means killed in action." Sakura explained sadly. "They all died."

He was taken aback, and then his face fell. They all could feel the weight of those words. Ninjas who died for their village. That could be them somebody.

"This is a memorial stone." Kakashi continued. "The names of my closest friends are engraved here." Harumi felt for him. She could hardly stand having lost Houka; she didn't want to even imagine losing anybody else. She wasn't alone on that sentiment. Only two of the four had ever lost someone but Naruto and Sakura could imagine it was a painful experience and it was something they were not looking forward to. Naruto wasn't sure if he'd even be able to accept Harumi's death in the event that she was killed.

"Alright. I'm going to give you one chance, but I'm going to make it much harder on you. You have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch now to build up strength, but Naruto doesn't get any."

The boy wasn't too happy about that.

"It's your punishment for trying to eat before everyone else. And if anyone tries to feed him, that person will immediately fail."

Naruto groaned in of disbelief and Sasuke glared at Kakashi. Harumi frowned. Naruto ate a lot. Not eating anything would seriously deplete his ability to fight and make him pretty much useless. Kakashi gave her a sideways look and she knew it was a sign to not intervene.

"I make the rules, you follow them. Got it?"

The three, not tied to a post, calmly eating their lunches, looked at Naruto as his stomach growled obnoxiously.

"This is no big deal. I can go without eating for days, for weeks! Believe it! This is no big deal." His stomach growled again and a look of pain crossed over his face before he turned his head down, dejectedly. "No problem…" He whimpered.

Sasuke glanced up at Naruto thoughtfully. A few seconds passed and then Sasuke held his lunch out to Naruto.

"Here."

Naruto gasped.

"What?! No, Sasuke. You can't do that. You heard what the sensei said." Sakura glanced around nervously for the said man.

"Kakashi's gone." Sasuke says. "We need to get those bells as a team. If Naruto's hungry, he'll be weak an inefficient and that hurts the team and jeopardizes the mission."

Concern shone in Sakura's eyes and then she too offered Naruto her lunch. The blonde male was a lot more touched by Sakura offering her lunch to him than Sasuke. Harumi found it mildly amusing, eyes sliding over to the tree she knew Kakashi was hiding behind.

_'Is this satisfactory?'_

"Okay, thanks."

"Don't thank me. Just hurry up and eat."

"But isn't that your lunch!"

"Uhhh… I'm on a diet. I mean, I don't eat as much as Sasuke. Just take it, Naruto!" She stuttered.

"I can't it, because…" He flexed his trapped wrists. "I can't move my hands. You gotta feed me." She looked scandalized.

"Hurry up," Sasuke urged her, keeping a look out for Kakashi. "He could come back any minute."

Sakura growled angrily. "Just this one time! That's it! I'll never do this again! Is that clear?"

"Clear as a bell, Sakura." Naruto grinned happily. He ate the food Sakura offered him dramatically. The moment he swallowed it, there was a large puff of smoke and an angry Kakashi popped out of it.

"YOU!" Naruto freaked out while Sakura screamed and blocked her face from the strong winds. Harumi and Sasuke tensed, one glaring and the other determined.

"You broke the rules. I hope you're ready for the punishment." Kakashi performed a few hand signs and the sky turned dark with black clouds that occasionally thundered and spit lightning. Sakura trembled in fear, Sasuke and Harumi prepared to fight back, one more confused than the other and Naruto was spazing out on the inside.

"B-but y-y-you said-" Naruto stammered, teeth chattering.

"Yes?" Kakashi pressed.

"You said that there were four of us! That's what you said! And that's why… Sakura and…" Naruto glanced at Sasuke, trailing off. He wasn't sure where he was going with this. He had an idea of what he wanted to say, but couldn't seem to put it into words.

"We're all on this squad and we're all in it together."

Sakura finally stopped cowering and added her own two cents. "Yeah! That's right! We gave our lunch to him because the four of us are one!" Naruto's head swiveled between the two.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Believe it! That's right!"

"The four of you are one?" Kakashi advanced on the children. "That's your excuse?" A long tense silence stretched on between the five and then Kakashi smiled proudly at them.

"You pass."

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

Silence.

Blink.

"You. Pass." Kakashi repeated, slower.

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned as Harumi smiled, doing happy dances in her head. "How'd we pass?"

The clouds began to dissipate, allowing the sunshine to be seen again. "You're the first squad to succeed. All the others did exactly what I said and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum. That's… true. But… those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

Much Harumi's amusement, Naruto's eyes got all watery and he sniffled a bit. Boys and their sensitive, delicate feelings.

"He's uh… you know… he's kind of cool."

"The exercise is over. Everyone passes! Squad 7 starts its first mission tomorrow." He threw us a thumbs up.

"Yes!" Sakura cheered, feeling accomplished. There was no reaction from Sasuke but Harumi was sure he was pleased.

"I did it! I did it!" Naruto cheered loudly, tears at the corners of his eyes. "Believe it! I'm a ninja! Ninja! Ninja! Ninja!"

"Let's go home."

They got up and followed Kakashi, internally celebrating. Naruto growled and he tried to wriggle out of the ropes holding him to the tall tree stump.

"I knew they'd do this! It happens every time! Believe it! YOU GUYS FORGOT TO UNTIE MEEEEE!" Naruto screamed. "HARUMI!"

The girl turned around, eyes glinting with mirth as she stuck her tongue out at her twin.

"You'll pay for this later!" His threat was only met with loud, approving laughter. Harumi was sure there was nothing but long days of laughter and teasing and fun and sunshine ahead of them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the Characters besides Harumi, and anyone who doesn't belong to the original Naruto plot.**

Harumi remained low to the ground, sapphire eyes locked on the target crouched ahead, just as tense as she was. "Harumi, I'm at point D." She informed her sensei.

"Sasuke, I'm a point B." The broody male's voice came on over the intercom stuffed in her ear. She winced slightly. It was still too loud for her sensitive ears and she reached up to adjust it some more. Earlier, before the mission had officially started, the others watched in shock as turned it lower and lower, to the point a normal human wouldn't be able to hear the other voices at all.

"Sakura, I'm at point C." The other girl on the team announced. Harumi was pleased that it didn't hurt her ears. She'd make sure to remember the frequency for future reference. There was a long pause.

"Naruto, I'm at point A, believe it."

"You're slow, Naruto." Kakashi scolded him. "Okay, squad 7, Hmm…" He trailed off, Harumi blinked once the target left her vision. "The target has moved! Follow it!" She did so, along with the others. Harumi, Sasuke and Sakura remained on the ground, hiding behind a tree, while Naruto was up in Sakura's tree, hiding. They all moved closer again, all on the ground this, behind their own tree.

"What's your distance from the target?" Kakashi-sensei asked.

"5 meters. I'm ready, Believe it. Just give the signal." Naruto answered.

"I'm ready too." Sasuke agreed.

"Let's do this." Harumi urged.

"So am I!"

"Okay…" Kakashi paused for dramatic effect. "NOW!" We all lurched forward, diving for the cat we'd been tracking for some time. It was Naruto who got it and proceeded to announce it victoriously. And then it attacked him. Sakura outwardly laughed at him.

"Can you verify ribbon, right ear?"

They watched the cat beat Naruto up in amusement.

"Affirmative. We've got a positive ID." Sasuke answered as Harumi decided it was time to save Naruto and gently plucked then cat off him. She cradled it against her chest and began to pet her.

"Right. Lost pet Tora captured. Mission accomplished."

Tora purred and rubbed her head against Harumi's arm, making Naruto glare at it hatefully.

"Can't we get a better mission than this!? I HATE CATS!"

Harumi kicked Naruto in the face. "Are you trying to kill my eardrums!?" She snarled and he mumbled an apology.

"OOOHH! MY poor Tora. Mommy was so worried about her naughty, little fuzzy-kins." Harumi watched nervously as the woman all but smothered the poor creature. She felt the urge to snatch Tora away from her and sue her for animal cruelty.

Naruto laughed at its misery. "Stupid cat. That kitty deserves to be squashed." He received a kick in the ankle from Harumi for that comment.

"No wonder he ran away." Sakura murmured.

"Now then…" The team of five turned to the Hokage. "For squad 7's next mission, we have several available tasks. Among them: babysitting the chief councilors three year old," Harumi perked up. She loved children, "Helping his wife to do the shopping, digging up potatoes-"

"Nooooo!" Naruto groaned loudly, drawing everyone's attention to himself. He made an 'X' with his arms. "I wanna go on a real mission! Something challenging and exciting! Not this little kid stuff! Come on old man!" He exclaimed passionately.

Harumi, Sasuke and Sakura agreed. As much as she liked helping people and kids, something that felt more like a ninja mission would be nice. Something challenging or more fun.

_'He's got a point…'_

_'But he's such a pain!'_

_ 'I knew this was coming.'_ Kakashi mentally sighed.

"How dare you!?" Iruka snarled, standing up and slamming his palms down on the table.

"Dangerously!" Harumi chirped, making Naruto laugh. She'd always wanted to say that. It got her a killing glare from Iruka and she squeaked and hid behind Kakashi-sensei, who looked over his shoulder at her with amusement.

"You're just a brand new Genin with no experience! Like everyone else, you start with simple missions to start developing your skills and prove yourself.

"Are you serious!? BABYSITTING is not a mission; it's just a stupid- ahhrgh!" He screamed after Kakashi hit him upside the head and he face planted into the ground.

"Would you put a lid on it?" He sighed, but the question sounded more like a command.

"Naruto!" The third Hokage called out to the hyperactive blonde. "It's seems you do not understand the tasks you've been given." He stopped groaning and looked up at the Hokage.

"Listen, many different kinds of requests come into the village every day, from babysitting to assassinations. These requests are carefully written, recorded, analyzed then ranked A, B, C, or D." Harumi spaced out, not wanting to hear this lecture again. They'd already had it several times. Once as initiation and the others when this happened; Naruto wanted a higher ranked mission. The Hokage rambled on and then he blinked in surprise when he realized on one was paying attention to him.

"So I had this Tankatsu ramen yesterday and today I'm thinking Miso ramen today."

"The hell you are! You're gonna eat some _real_ food Naruto! It's been almost a month since you've had anything besides ramen!"

"NO!"

"NARUTO!" She glared down at the kyuubi holder sitting on the floor, pouting like a child.

"Hey, Harumi, can I come over for dinner tonight?" Sasuke asked. The little fire dragon looked at him and then smiled kindly.

"Sure!" Harumi chimed as Naruto exclaimed "No way!" The male one got a knock on the head from his sister.

"Silence!" The Hokage shouted. Kakashi laughed nervously.

"Sorry." He, along with Sakura had watched the banter and listened to the three instead of the Hokage. Albeit, Sakura was a little peeved that Sasuke would be eating dinner at Harumi's house while Kakashi was highly amused by their antics and happy that at least some of his students were getting along. Kakashi didn't think Harumi and Sasuke would get along, but they seemed to be fine.

Naruto hopped around, still sitting cross legged on the floor. "You always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something! But I'm not the little brat who used to pull pranks all time! I'm a ninja now. And I want a ninja mission." He declared and then turned away with a 'humph'. It was the first time had argued back like that. Harumi smiled fondly at her twin. She liked that Naruto spoke his mind and expressed his feelings.

_'I'm going to hear about this later.'_ Kakashi rubbed the back of his head tiredly. Iruka chuckled quietly to himself, but Harumi's sensitive ears still caught it and the Hokage grinned and internally laughed.

_'Naruto wants us to know that he's not a brat. He's a former brat and he wants a mission.'_

"So be it." There were gasps from Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Harumi grinned. "Since you're so determined, I'm going to give you a C – ranked mission. You'll be body guards on a journey."

Excitement coursed through Harumi. She could hardly wait to start traveling again, like she and Houka had. She hoped it was to somewhere she'd never been before.

"Really? Yes!" Naruto cheered. "Who!? Who!? Are we guarding a princess? Or some big-wig councilor?!"

"Don't be so impatient. I will bring him in now. Send in our visitor." The Hokage ordered. Everyone locked their eyes on the only entrance and exit this room held – unless you counted the windows. When they turned around, Harumi ended up behind Kakashi. The first thing that came through the door was a sake bottle, making Harumi frown.

"What the… a bunch of snot-nosed little kids." He took a long messy drink. The alcohol spilled out of the corner of his mouth and crawled down the length of his chin before dropping onto the floor. Naruto stood up, also a little disappointed at their client. He quickly smiled though, the high of leaving the village walls reigniting his excitement.

With a groan, he stopped and wiped his mouth before leaning on the door entrance. "And you the little one, with the idiotic look on your face, you really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"

Naruto laughed. "Who's the little one with the idiotic grin on his-" He trailed off when his teammates looked at him. They stepped closer. Sasuke was the tallest and then Sakura, who was just barely shorter and there was pretty good gap between the pinkette and Naruto. Harumi was a bit shorter than Naruto but she was still hidden behind Kakashi, so the man hadn't seen her. Naruto's face fell irately.

"I'll demolish you!" Naruto threatened as Kakashi held him back. He had to step over to grab the back of Naruto's jacket, revealing the petite frame behind him.

"You can't demolish the client, Naruto." He scolded. "It doesn't work that way." The man took another swig.

"What is that!? She's so tiny. There's no way!"

"Harumi is one of the best out of her graduating class and teammates." Kakashi defended her. The man sighed.

"I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge that will change our world and I'm expecting you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life." Harumi's eyes narrowed into slits.

"Excuse me, but we don't need someone who knows nothing of the way of the ninja to be telling us how to do our job." Harumi hissed. Kakashi placed a placating hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down. Team, go gather your things. Rendezvous at the village gates."

"Wait." Everyone froze.

"Harumi has a separate mission I intend to send her on, which is C rank and part of the reason I gave this squad C – rank as well. The rest of you carry on."

"But!" Naruto protested, worried about his sister and a little disappointed. His first real mission and she wasn't gonna be there with him?

"If Harumi finishes her mission before you get back of course, she may follow after you to the land of waves. I'm sure she knows the way." She female blonde nodded

"Don't worry. I'll catch up with you in no time!" She smiled and him encouragingly and full confidence. Begrudgingly, he nodded and hurried home.

"We need your expertise." The Hokage started. "There's a nasty fire at a village in between our village and the sand village. Technically, it's belongs to the wind nation, but the fire is spreading rapidly into our trees and it will quickly burn towards other villages in the fire nation. We've gotten permission to aid them and I believe you will be the fastest at extinguishing the fire."

Harumi smiled. "Of course. That'll be easy!" She hurried off and managed to meet you with her teammates as they meet at the gates as instructed by Kakashi-sensei.

"Hey. Am I supposed to trust my life to this runt? He's a joke." Anger seared through Naruto's veins and made him freeze. Kakashi laughed nervously.

"He's with me and I'm a Jounin, so you don't need to worry." Harumi appraised him coldly.

"Besides, whether you want to or not, we _are_ the ones guarding you, so suck it up, build a bridge," She smirked. "…and get over it. Pun intended."

"Harumi!" Naruto exclaimed. "What's up?"

"It's a simple mission really. There's a really bad forest fire to close to villages, that's all. The only reason it's C- rank is because I have to leave the village, go all the way to the border of the fire nation and work alongside enemy ninja, the sand. We have a common goal so there shouldn't be any problems. I'll catch up as soon as I can, okay?"

He nodded. Harumi hopped over to Sakura, said 'bye' and hugged her, much to the pinkette's surprise and then gave Sasuke the same treatment. Kakashi bent down so that she could hug him around the neck. "Take care of them, sensei." She whispered.

"_You_ take care. You're the one going off on your own. Come back safe, Harumi. This team won't survive without you." He whispered.

"BYE!" She yelled as she rushed off, waving as she went.

Kakashi felt his heart contract with worry. She was just barely a Genin. She shouldn't be going off alone like that. Sure she's traveled around before, but she had a huge dragon with her then. And she was going to be around other ninja from the sand village.

The treaty had yet to be signed and someone who didn't want an alliance between the leaf and the sand may attack her to try to make sure it didn't happen; as a means to create tension. She was one of the best, but if there's Chunin, he's not sure how well she'd fair. Surely that was a B – ranked or higher mission. He should send somebody else! Why was he willing to over look that tid bit? Realization struck him.

Harumi's special lungs allowed her to inhale flames, much faster and efficient than trying to put out the fires with jutsu. The protection of the innocents was priority. She was a ninja and this was the ninja way of life, but Kakashi couldn't help but feel like they still should have sent someone else, or _at least_ send some ANBU or Jounin to guard her.

'_Is this what it feels like to be a father? This protective urge._'

He had grown to like all his students, but Harumi certainly held a special place in his heart. Kakashi also believed Sasuke held the same soft spot for the blonde and that Sakura was growing one, her view as Harumi as a rival for Sasuke's attention and love holding her back from fully embracing her teammate. It was obvious how much Naruto adored his sister.

"She'll be okay, right?" Sakura pressed. Kakashi didn't know what to say. Give her false assurances that might lead to it being a lie, or tell her the possible dangers and to expect, Harumi might not come back. Naruto also seemed to be waiting for assurances.

"She'll be fine." Sasuke answered confidently. "It's Harumi." They let the tension slide off them. Kakashi snuck a glance at Sasuke and saw the guarded expression. He knew just as well as Kakashi what dangers Harumi was facing, but Sasuke had made the right move. If the others worry about her, it will distract them from their own mission. Naruto might even try to go after her.

Harumi ran gracefully across the branches, easily altering between different ones. She divulged into memories of before she lived in Konoha, before Houka died. Harumi had to run to keep up with her mother, even though she moved slowly. It was that she was huge and easily covered more ground than herself. She also remembered racing with Toru through the treetops and sparing. Harumi's nose twitched and she switched her direction to go more left. The fire was over there. Screams rose up and Harumi pushed harder. She flew out off a tree overlooking the village from a cliff. It had already caught fire.

She opened her mouth and breathed deeply. Fire broke away from the ground and surged toward her. It passed her pink lips harmless and into her lungs. They expanded to the point they pressed against her ribcage painfully. She closed her mouth, chewed and swallowed as she fell head first towards the ground. She twirled, landing perfectly on her feet and repeated the process. She paid no mind to who was around her, only her job of eradicating the wild flames. She did, however, notice the taste was off. She'd eaten normal forest fires before but this taste wasn't the same. There was quite a bit of human chakra mixed in with it. This was no accident.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the Characters besides Harumi, and anyone who doesn't belong to the original Naruto plot (like Saru)**

~ Recap ~

She opened her mouth and breathed deeply. Fire broke away from the ground and surged toward her. It passed her pink lips harmless and into her lungs. They expanded to the point they pressed against her ribcage painfully. She closed her mouth, chewed and swallowed as she fell head first towards the ground. She twirled, landing perfectly on her feet and repeated the process. She paid no mind to who was around her, only her job of eradicating the wild flames. She did, however, notice the taste was off. She'd eaten normal forest fires before but this taste wasn't the same. There was quite a bit of human chakra mixed in with it. This was no accident.

~ Story Start ~

As she stopped to chew again, she scanned the surroundings for any glares or hostility, mainly from the sand ninja. She found none and continued on with her work. Eventually, others stopped helping and sat back to watch in awe and murmured to each other both insults and praise. In no time, she finished off the fire, leaving behind scorched earth. Harumi loved fire, but sights like these pulled at her heart strings

"Thank you for your assistance." A sand ninja greeted her. He had messy, sandy blonde hair and purple eyes. He was fairly attractive . She smiled at him brightly.

"My pleasure." They began to head back to their village. She wasn't sure if they'd believe her but she felt the need to at least warn them. "Wait!" The one who had thanked her was the only one who stopped and looked back. "The fire… tasted off. I can't really explain it, but this wasn't an accident. Someone set it on fire, with chakra." The man's eyes narrowed. "I am not looking to place blame one anyone. I simply wished to inform, in the event that it was a rogue ninja, so that you wouldn't be completely caught off guard. If that is the case…"

He regarded her thoughtfully, before smiling. "Thank you…"

"Harumi Uzumaki, Genin of Konoha." She quickly introduced herself.

"I'll be sure to pass the message along." She nodded and then rushed off. He watched her go with some ounce of fascination. Most would have assumed it was the sands doing, and/or not have said anything at all. Now he became worried, not for himself but the young girl. It was obvious she was a new Genin from the spark in her eyes and she had no team to back home with, while he did. If there was a rogue ninja, they would go after her most likely. He hurried back to his team to inform them off the issue at hand.

Harumi continued towards the land of waves, despite the setting sun. She was determined to meet up with her team before they head back home. She felt like they were in danger and she couldn't stop. Abruptly, she jumped sharply to the left, barely dodging a barrage of weapons. They landed exactly where she had been.

'_They were aiming for my legs so they're not looking to just kill…'_

He stepped out of the shadows, grinning. "Are you a cute little thing? You remind me of a little white rabbit." He cooed and Harumi tensed. She bristled, literally. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and her blonde strands became sharper and rose upwards. The way this guy was looking at her was putting her on edge and giving her the creeps. He was a fire user as well. She could smell that smoky scent that wafted from him was a dead giveaway.

Harumi fought best against fire users. Any and every time they used a fire jutsu, she could simply inhale it to replenish her own energy and chakra and eventually they run out of chakra and be left at her mercy, which, when it comes to rogue ninja, she doesn't have much of. Especially ones that eyed 12-year-olds like he did. She wiped out some kunai and threw them. He wasn't gonna make the first move and she was anxious to get back to her teammates.

He leaned and she followed, meeting him at the spot he intended to go to and then proceeded to sweep kick him. Utilizing her nimble, flexible body, she twisted around and slammed her leg down on his jugular. He bad an odd noise and the sputtered and gasped for air. She threw herself into the air as a slice of wind came in her direction, barely managing to dodge the blow. She glared at the new arrival, obviously an ally of the fire user.

"My, she got you good." That earned him a glare from his friend, but he merely chuckled at it. He had a deep curved, thick sword in his hand that made Harumi a little nervous. Shock crackled through her veins as something heavy landed beside her. She spun and put her arms up in an 'X' to defend herself from the oncoming punch. It knocked her off her feet and sent her flying through a tree and then into another one. She dropped to her feet and then her knees, leaning against the tree for support. She had blocked that, but it still rattled her brain in her head, making her a little dizzy.

'_Three of them?!_'

She prayed there weren't any more. She was in enough trouble as it was. The fire user by himself she could handle. And the other one, definite trouble. Now a third one. It was like staring imminent death in the face. Harumi clenched her fists, grit her teeth and glared before smirking.

"Well, I did say I wanted something more challenging." She mused, shaking a bit. She honestly wasn't sure if it was from pain or excitement. _Both_ she concluded. _Let's go wild! _

She set herself on fire and rushed the one that punched her. He stepped back, eyes widening in shock. She slammed her foot down on the ground with enough force it sunk into the ground and she shot forward even faster and slammed her head into his stomach with the force of a rail gun. Blood spewed from his mouth and he flew back through several trees. The fire user was up as now as she turned to face them, still blazing.

"Damn! You just had to go and pick a monster to fight with!" The one with the sword snarled. "Snake Sword Jutsu!" He swung, the blade of his sword extending. It didn't simply grow longer; a new piece the same length and shape of the original blade appeared over and over again. She hopped over it, a breath away from it and dived towards him. They weren't that strong. They had fancy jutsu, but were Chuunin at best. That didn't change the fact that they were still stronger than her. A small flick of his wrist and the blades were sent in Harumi's direction. She twisted mid-air but not enough to escape completely unharmed. A blade sliced her shoulder and she let herself drop like a stone so she wouldn't get tangle in the string of blades like a fly in a spider's web.

She landed on her feet and hopped away as the fire user appeared behind her, but he managed to capture her ankles before she could put distance between them. She stretched out as he chuckled and declared 'I got you,' and dug her fingers into the ground. She gritted her teeth, strained her muscles and pulled till she ripped her ankles out of his grip. This ripped off a layer of skin and she spun, landing on her feet. They both whistled and she crouched, ready to defend if necessary.

"She's tough. This is gonna be fun; breaking her that is." A feral growled ripped out of the blonde's throat. They darted forward and Harumi let lose a kunai, the one with the sword didn't bother to dodge, and then puffed into a log upon contact. She whipped around as the sword came out of the shadows but it was too late. It tightly wrapped around her and dug into her skin in various places. She winced and held back a whimper. Blood poured from her wounds, dyeing her white coat red in several places.

_Damn it!_

The fire user slowly advanced, pulling out kunai.

_I can't… not yet… DAMN IT!_

Harumi closed her eyes and waited for the kunai to end her life. The sound of metal slicing through the air infiltrated her ears and a body dropped to the ground. Silence followed along with a gust of wind moved her hair around and Harumi steadily opened her eyes as another thump echoed about the forest. She turned after hearing metal scraping metal, the blades binding her loosened. Her eyes widened as her sapphire orbs locked on the sand ninja from earlier, still sheathing the sword. So easily, he had killed those two Chunin; beheaded them with his sword.

"Don't move." He ordered and then hurried over. Carefully, he began undoing the blade wrapped around her delicate frame. "_Where_ exactly we're you going?"

"The land of waves. My team is heading there. Probably already there." She answered.

"Has it ever occurred to you, that you should take a break? Or, you know, head back to your village instead of wander about alone?" He drawled.

She scowled at him as best she could with the blood loss affecting her head. She had a nice puddle at her feet and growing.

"Damn, you're gushing blood." He worked faster, but carefully, not wanting to cause a new wound for her to bleed from. That certainly wouldn't help the situation.

He didn't want his efforts to save this girl to be for nothing. He didn't even know why he was here in the first place! She was a leaf Genin! She wasn't his problem! But here he was, working frantically to untangle her so he could treat her before she bled to death. He had gone with his team and then suddenly turned around with a curse and followed after her, his teammates calling after him. All he could think of were those deep, big blue eyes looking up at him. They were dark but held a beautiful light in them he didn't want to see die. Besides, he had a thing for damsels in distress.

Her body was trembling. She wouldn't be able to stand for much longer.

_Finally_

He had gotten it off and threw it. He had expected her to collapse instantly, but she remained standing and he couldn't help but be impressed. For a brand new Genin, she was pretty tough.

"Thank you… for all your help." She breathed, panting a bit. The blood loss was affecting her. She turned and then stumbled. He was in front of her in seconds, holding her up so she wouldn't fall face first in the dirt.

"What are you doing!?" He snapped irately.

"My team… they're in danger… I can feel it… I need to hurry to them…" He was stunned. She was in this kind of condition and the only thing she could think of was her teammates. She didn't even know if they were really in trouble and she was willingly to kill herself just to get there and make sure they weren't. They were either weak or she just can't stand to not be near and able to protect them if necessary.

"They have your sensei with them?" He pressed. She blinked those big eyes at him, confused as to why that mattered and then nodded. "Then they'll be fine. _You_ need to rest and get patched up or you're going to die." She frowned and he saw a fire rise in her eyes, gearing up to argue and then she sighed, mush to his relief.

"Fine." She relented. He sat her down and pulled out some bandages and healing cream to apply to her cuts and set to work. She stayed still and didn't fuss. No fidgets or flinches or whimpers pr gasps. He smirked.

"What's your name?"

"Masasru Nakahara, Chunin of Suna." He mimicked her earlier introduction.

"It's nice to meet you, Nakahara-san." He jerked in surprise at the formal way she addressed him.

"What was that for?" She snapped. She hadn't made a noise but it obviously hurt her.

"Sorry. Just Masaru is fine. Or Hot stuff. A lot of girls call me that." She laughed at him.

"Saru-kun it is."

"That works." When he finished he ordered her to bed. The sun was long gone.

"I'll keep watch." She nodded and curled up. He opened his mouth to protest her actions but she already asleep. He looked away with an amused sigh. He clenched his jaw as the cool night air cut through his shirt and chilled his skin. He glanced over at her and was glad that she wasn't suffering like he was. The next time he looked over at her, she was up and right next to him and it scared the hell out of him. He placed a hand on his hammering heart and stared at her in bewilderment.

She said nothing, not a word of apology or why she was up and so close to him. She simply snuggled up against him and he was instantly relieved. She was so warm and it quickly spread through his nerves and kept out the cold. He wrapped an arm firmly, but still careful not to disturb her injuries, around her slim waist and pulled her closer. How the hell was she so warm? … and Adorable!? Her sleeping face was absolutely adorable! Masaru felt heat rush to his cheeks as he stared down at the small girl.

What was with this girl!? He could have any girl he wanted, had many of them already. Never once had they provoked these kinds of feelings in him. And he didn't even know her. To make matters worse, she was from a different village, one his Kazekage was trying to go to war with. He gritted his teeth and pulled her closer.

What the hell was he doing?! Why was he saving her?! If the Kazekage gets the war he wants with Konoha, she'll mostly likely be slaughtered. He might even have to be the one who does it, the one who comes across her that will be accused of being a traitor if he doesn't. Or… or_ he_ will find her. The thought of her being squashed into nothing made him nauseous. The thought of her glaring at him hatefully as his village attacked hers made him nauseous as well and he resisted the urge to spill the contents of his stomach onto the ground. This entire time, his efforts have been in vain. She was going to die. It was inevitable. Especially since she is a ninja. The cruelty of the ninja life is that many die young.

He shut his brain off and refrained from looking at her any more. In the morning, he'd leave her to find her own way to the land of waves and he'd go back to the sand village and pretend he never met her; that he never saved her; that none of this ever happened.

Masaru glared at the sky.

"Thanks for coming with me all the way here." Harumi says. They were standing on a beach. Just beyond the large expanse of water was the village of waves. He had walked her all the way here. In the morning, after had woken up, he had gotten up and started walking towards his village, but then her soft voice called out.

"_Oh, you're going already. I thought you were gonna keep me company till I reached the shore. Oh well. It was nice seeing you Masaru. Take care!"_

He stood there for a minute, arguing with himself before hurrying after her. He passed by her and he saw her eyes light up from the corner of his eyes as she cheered loudly. He intended to simply walk with her but she insisted on making conversation and as time went by he relaxed more and more and opened up more and more. They joked, teased, mocked, told embarrassing childhood stories and revealed parts of their beliefs to each other. And Damn him, he'd gotten even more attached to this little firecracker of a leaf Genin. Hell, she was wearing his shirt just because he couldn't bear to see her walk around in her torn up one. Surely she could have borrowed one from her brother or Sasuke, but the thought of her wearing another guys shirt pissed him off, so he gave her his. He had nothing but shorts and fishnet on now.

"No problem." He breathed. He wouldn't let her see he was angry with himself.

"If you're ever in Konoha. Look me up. You can crash with me and my brother and I'll cook for you like I do Sasuke!"

Masaru hated the surge of jealousy that shot through him. He knew who Sasuke was. She had told him about all her teammates and he knew she held no romantic feelings for the boy, but still… and he hated that he felt that way about another girl from another village, hated being jealous period. Besides, she seemed to be the type that was so dense she couldn't recognize her own feelings of love, let alone another's, so she could actually have feelings for this Sasuke Uchiha. Masaru hadn't even met the guy he already hated him.

"Will do." He grinned at her mirthfully. "and perhaps we can give that Sasuke and your brother the boot and you can how me how flexible you are in your bedroom." She blinked at him once, twice, thrice before popping an eyebrow at him.

"Why do you want to see how flexible I am?"

He was stunned for a split second before laughing. "Think of it more sexually." He said, walking away.

"More…" She trailed off, face flaring a deep red. "Y-You pervert!" He merely laughed and kept going, waving as he went without looking at her.

She huffed but called out 'bye' before racing across the water. It was already midday. They had certainly taken their time walking. But it was fun and Harumi was glad she got to know someone from a different village. It was nice to be reminded that, while they came from different places, they themselves weren't really all that different.

She followed her nose through the poor village. It took her the middle of the forest where her team was assembled. She hid behind a tree and watched to see what they were doing.

"A long time ago we learned about, uh, Catra." Harumi allowed her head to hit the tree.

'_Oh dear…'_

"Chakra." Kakashi corrected him with a sigh. "Go ahead Sakura." She proceeded to explain how Chakra worked for Naruto since he apparently forgot.

"Right on all points." Kakashi praised. "Iruka really did have some excellent students." Sakura puffed out her chest proudly.

"Ah! What's the big deal with all the these complicated explanations! The whole point is to learn the jutsu, isn't it!" Naruto groaned and Harumi sighed.

"Naruto's right for once. We're already using Chakra energy in our jutsu."

"No." Kakashi snapped. "You have not mastered this power. You've barely scratched the surface of it."

"What do you mean!?" Naruto exclaimed angrily suddenly, surprising Sasuke for a minute.

"Calm down and listen." Kakashi-sensei demanded. "It's just like Sakura said. You have to draw on physical _and_ spiritual energies and then combine them within yourself. But how do you do that? Each jutsu requires different chakra in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up to now, you've just guessed at the proportions, hoping they'd come out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra, unless you can balance and control it, it's all worthless. The jutsu won't work at all or it'll just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way. Then you're out of Chakra and you can't fight at all. You're just a target."

"So how do we change that?" Naruto asked, understanding.

"Train so hard that controlling chakra becomes second nature. To achieve this goal, you must be ready… to put your life on the line."

"What… do we have to do?"

"Climb trees!" Harumi declared. She'd gone through the training with Houka in order to reach the point of inhaling flames.

"Harumi!" Naruto and Sakura cheered happily and then their faces dropped.

"Oh my gosh, Harumi! You're all injured and whose shirt is that?" Sakura gasped.

"Huh? Oh yeah. On my way over here I got attacked by some rogue ninja. They almost killed me but then his cool sand guy - Saru-kun - I met while extinguishing the fire came and saved me, his full name is Masaru, and gave me his shirt cause mine was all torn up." Harumi summed up her adventure. Sasuke had stiffened and then scowled at the mention of the _cool sand guy_. He was sure he wasn't all that special. He eyed her shirt with distaste. He wanted to say red looked awful on her, but Harumi looked good in any color.

Her eyes zeroed in on Kakashi's crutch. "What happened to you guys?"

Kakashi-sensei sighed and Naruto launched into the story. Harumi was frowning by the end of it. "Sorry I wasn't there to help guys."

"Don't be! We're fine! Next time, with all of us here, we'll definitely take him down for good!" Naruto announced.

"Yes, but not without your training. As Harumi said, you'll be climbing trees."

"Seriously!" They echoed.

"But there's just one rule; No hands."

Sakura looked at him like he was psycho. "What? You're kidding." The other two just stared at him while Harumi sulked next to a tree, mumbling to herself about the 'unfairness of the world' and 'cruel mothers'.

"Uh…" Kakashi trailed off, unsure of whether or not he wanted to know why Harumi was growing mushrooms – however she was doing that – next to the tree. "Am I?" He concentrated his chakra and then… began walking up the tree, crutches n all, which made it all the more amazing. The three were awestruck.

"He's climbing…" Naruto breathed.

"Straight up!" Sakura finished for him. "And he's only using his feet!"

"Well, you get the idea. Focus the chakra towards the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the tree. This is one way to apply the power of chakra."

"Wait a minute!" Sakura exclaimed. "That's a nice trick but how does it help us fight Zabusa." Harumi turned around listened.

"It's the only way to fight him, Sakura." Kakashi answered. "That's the entire goal of this training. First, you'll learn to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in your body. This is difficult, even for advanced ninja. This type of climbing requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy and the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult points to focus chakra. Are you getting the picture? If you can master this, you'll be able to master any jutsu. Well, theoretically. The second point is to learn to maintain your chakra levels. When a ninja is in battle, it's even harder to focus and maintain their charka levels; a deadly mistake. To avoid this, maintain chakra must become second nature; effortless. Well, I can talk about this all day, but that won't advance your skills, will it? You need to apply the power of chakra… through training."

He drew out three kunai and threw them at Sasuke's, Sakura's, Harumi's and Naruto's feet.

"Use the kunai knife to mark the highest point on the tree you can climb without using your hands. Then try to get past that mark the next time and the next. At first you'll need to run at the tree so your momentum can take you as high as possible, until you get used to it. Ready?"

"I'm more than ready!" Naruto declared snatching up the kunai. The others picked up theirs as well. "This is gonna be no sweat, all the way! Believe it! Remember what you said, sensei. _I'm_ the one who's grown the most!"

"You're definitely the one who talks the most." Kakashi muttered. "Now, get focused and do it!"

While the others closed their eyes and focused their chakra, Harumi walked forward. She planted her foot on the tree and leisurely strolled up it. Kakashi blinked in shock and then mentally scolded himself. Chakra control was an essential point to have to be able to inhale flames.

When Harumi eats flames she takes in the chakra that resides in the fire and stores it in herself. There is chakra in everything, in fire and the things it burns, so the more it burns, the stronger it gets and when Harumi inhales it, she replenishes her own chakra as well as stores extra in the second stomach all dragon sages develop behind their lungs for later use. It's one of the things that make fire dragons and ice dragons so strong. The more they burn or freeze, then eat, the stronger they get. It puts them on par with Bijuu's.

Harumi walked to the very top of her tree, scratched the top and then started back down. When she was within sight, she realized her teammates were searching for her. Naruto now had a large bump on the back of his head because he didn't use enough chakra and fell. Sasuke had a large dent a ways up his tree from, eventually, using too much chakra. Sakura was casually sitting on a branch, higher than Sasuke's indention. It was obvious from her pink cheeks she was gloating; showing off.

"Harumi! Wow! You're just standing on the tree!" She just smiled at her twin.

"Well, looks like the female members of the squad have the most advanced chakra control. Well done, Sakura, Harumi.

"Way to go Sakura! Harumi! I always knew you too were awesome! Believe it!"

'_It does sort of tick me off though.'_

"Whatever." Sasuke muttered and Harumi rolled her eyes. If someone was worse than him, they meant less than dust to him, if someone was better than him, he gets pissed off. You just couldn't win with the guy! Sakura made a dejected look. She had been hoping to impress Sasuke.

"Well, not only do Sakura and Harumi understand chakra, they can control and maintain it as well. We spoke about someone becoming Hokage one day, didn't we? Harumi has the best shot, wouldn't you say?" Naruto glared up at Kakashi. "And as for the great Uchiha clan, maybe they're not so great after all." A malevolent looked passed over Sasuke's face and Harumi was concerned that maybe Kakashi went too far. She knew what he was doing; trying to motivate them but the boy's family – clan – was a very sensitive subject for him.

"Shut up, sensei! You talk too much!" Sakura snapped, becoming worried that Sasuke would come to hate her.

'_Alright, think they're motivated. Of course, Naruto and Sasuke both have far more chakra within than Sakura.. If this training works, they're mastery of chakra will become a valuable asset. Harumi's strength and vast amount of chakra is proof of that.'_

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed. "First I'll match Sasuke! Then I'm going all the way to the top! Believe it!"

Harumi caught sight of a young boy dressed in green walking away, muttering darkly to himself. They went at it again and again and again. Each time Naruto would eventually use to little chakra and slide back down and Sasuke would use too much and be pushed off, creating a new dent. Naruto was steadily gaining on Sasuke, much to the onyx eyed boys irritation, but Naruto could only see Sasuke getting higher and higher. Sakura lay on the ground, tried out. She was amazed they could just keep going and going. She found some satisfaction that it looked like Naruto wasn't making any progress and expected him to give up and throw a tantrum soon.

When the blonde male stood up and shrieked irately, she smirked at his predictability. It dropped off her face when he shyly approached her. He crouched in front of her and cupped his mouth.

"Hey, you're good at this… how about some advice."

Harumi couldn't help the tinge of jealousy that shot through her. Normally, it was just her and Naruto training and when he couldn't get something he'd ask _her_ for help. She pushed her lips into a thin line and then swiftly turned and hurried away. She didn't want anyone to see that and she felt so ashamed for feeling that way. She should be happy Naruto had a reason to talk to his crush but another part – a larger part – of her was angry. _She_ was the more logical choice wasn't she? _She_ was the one who mastered this when she was 6. But he wasn't asking h_er _for help, he was asking _Sakura._

Sasuke watched Sakura and Naruto conversed and then noticed Harumi stalking off with clenched fists and a dark look on her face. He frowned, eyebrows knitting together in confusion and, he dare say, concern? Kakashi noticed it as well.

Harumi had gotten used to the idea of it being just him and her, and her and him. Now she had to share him and she didn't want to and she hated herself for it. Naruto was lonely, wanted friends and she was mad because he was making connections to his teammates? It was also hypocritical, considering Harumi had several friends. She ended up on the roof of a two-story house – the one her team were residing in along with that old Tazuna guy – and looked put over the sea, wallowing in self loathing and hugging her knees to her chest.

Eventually she was joined by Sasuke. He sat next to her without a word, legs propped up, arms resting over them casually. The silence ticked by. Sasuke wasn't even sure what he was doing up here. He just knew she was upset and sitting up here all by her lonesome, all her cheeriness drained from her entire being. It bugged him. Harumi not cheery, is... was just too odd - unnatural - and he didn't like it.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine." She replied in a clipped tone. Harumi wasn't ready to talk about it yet. She wanted to scold and be angry with herself for a little bit longer, before telling someone and having them try to cheer her up and possibly succeed.

"What happened to not bottling up your feelings?" Sasuke said, not unkindly. A wry smile crossed Harumi's delicate face.

_Delicate? Since when did I consider Harumi's face **delicate**?_

"I'm mad at myself for being mad at Naruto for asking Sakura for help instead of me. I'm just so used to it being just _us_ when it comes to training. I'm used to being the only person who always helped when he needed it. I should be happy for him! He's making friends like he always wanted to. He's having _normal_ conversations with Sakura for once. And yet, I was just... _angry_. And, oddly, I felt betrayed. And I don't understand why? It's not fair of me... I'm... an horrid person." Her voice softened and cracked at the end.

"The fact that you're sitting here, beating yourself up over feeling that way, is proof that your an amazing person. You shouldn't feel bad about feeling that way. It just shows how much you love him. I..." Sasuke swallowed. "...was the same way about my older brother too once. Sometimes... I _hated_ his friends, because they were close to Itachi in a way that I never would be. I realized later that, that was a two-way road. I'm pretty sure Naruto's felt the same way about you spending time with him. He's just not so shy about it."

Harumi let out a little huff, smile lightening. She recalled the extreme way Naruto reacted to herself and Sasuke having gone shopping together. Proclaiming that it was 'his' job and so forth. Suddenly, she felt a lot better. Harumi leaned over, allowing her head to fall on Sasuke's shoulder with a content sigh.

"Thank you, Sasuke. I feel a lot better." He leaned into her as well and smiled a tiny bit. He'd admit it, he was enjoying this and he didn't want to end it, but that shirt was bugging the hell out of him. He pulled away and ripped off his own shirt. Harumi squeaked, her cheeks turning so red it put cherries to shame as she leaned away from the now half naked Uchiha. For a twelve year old, he was pretty muscular, although, that should be expected of a ninja.

"Wh- wh- wh- wh-" Sasuke smirked teasingly at her.

"Wasn't expecting you to get so flustered." She half heartedly glare at the male member of her team that she wasn't related to.

"Put this on." Harumi blinked at him, confused.

"Why?"

"Because you shouldn't be wearing enemy ninja clothes! Now take your shirt off and put this one on!" He waved his dark blue shirt in her face. The look in his eye said the topic wasn't up for debate.

"Ya know, you don't have to make excuse just to get me to take my shirt off Sasuke." She teased, pulling Masaru's shirt over her head, revealing her torn up shirt and all the bandages underneath. Sasuke's flush disappeared as he noticed she was more injured than they originally thought.

"How deep are those wounds?"

"Huh? Oh, they're not so bad. I just got tangled up in my enemies weird sword." She pulled on Sasuke's shirt, only to have him snort at her.

"You put it on backwards." She flushed in embarrassment.

"Eh? Did I?"

"Yeah, the Uchiha symbol is on the back of the shirt, not the front." Harumi laughed nervously, pulling her arms inside his shirt, flipping it around and then sticking them out again. He plucked the red shirt off her lap and threw it off the roof carelessly.

"You look a lot better in blue than in red."

_'I like you a lot better in **my** shirt... wait, what?_

"I think so too! Blues a pretty color." Harumi deemed, looking up at the dark blue sky. Sasuke tilted his head up, but watched her from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah." He agreed, looking into her big blue eyes.

"Sasuke! Harumi! Don't stay out all night if you'll be too tired tomorrow! We're getting up early!" Kakashi-sensei yelled from down below.

"We should go back in." Harumi murmured. She wasn't sure why she quieted her voice, but Sasuke did it too, so she brushed it off.

"Alright." They stood. Amusement flickered through his eyes when he looked at her. His shirt was rather large on her. It could've passed for a short dress.

Needless to say, when they entered the house their was a large commotion. Sakura drooled at the sight of Sasuke's bare chest and then she realized Harumi was wearing Sasuke's shirt and threw a fit. This caused Naruto to go wild and accuse Sasuke of stealing his little sister's innocence, to which he was punched really hard for by a chili pepper red Harumi. Kakashi looked between the two and raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word. Tazuna's daughter smiled slyly while Tazuna teased the two ninja's in training.

Sakura got more railed up when it was Harumi who was sleeping next to Sasuke. Sasuke took a spot next to the wall and to save the boy from possibly getting violated by Sakura in the middle of the night. Naruto stuck close to her, watching Sasuke through accusing, glaring eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the Characters besides Harumi, and anyone who doesn't belong to the original Naruto plot.**

Harumi kept her eyes peeled for any sign of the people fitting her teams description of the enemy as well as unfamiliar, hostile, trained chakra. Her ears twitched at every noise; The crane moving heavy pieces of steel, clinking of metal, hammers pounding in nails. Sakura let out a yawn, stretching her arms up. She was seated beside Harumi, looking a bit tired. It was early and training last night wore her out. Harumi and Sakura were up here guarding the bridge builder because they were the best at the tree climbing.

"You two always this lazy?" Tazuna asked, approaching the two kunoichi's in training. Sakura slowed her yawn and stared at him. "Where's that weird blonde kid and the one with the attitude?"

"They're training." Sakura answered. "Climbing trees."

"Too tough for you two?"

"No! In fact, _I'm_ the best." Sakura gloated. "That's why the sensei sent me here to guard you." Tazuna stopped and raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. "You're joking."

"No, she's partially lying. _I_ am the best at it, considering I mastered this training when I was six. She comes in second place. The rest is true." The pinkette scowled at the blonde and then crossed her arms with a 'hmph'.

Sakura was already in a bad mood. Harumi was _still_ wearing Sasuke's shirt. Not that he was walking around half naked – much to her displeasure. He was certainly something to look at. He had a spare shirt and let Harumi keep his shirt. She didn't miss the pleased look that flashed through Sasuke's eyes every time he saw Harumi in his shirt. And Harumi looked good in it! Not only that, but when she woke up, Harumi was cuddled up against Sasuke's chest, and the love of her life had an arm wrapped around her. She started shouting, which woke up Naruto and he started yelling and then they both got in trouble with Kakashi-sensei for waking Tazuna's daughter and Inari.

Tazuna set the steel beam he was carrying down as one of his workers approached him.

"Tazuna! Uh… I need to talk to you."

"What about?" Tazuna asked, giving the man his full attention.

"Uh… thing is…" Harumi narrowed her eyes. "…I've been thinking a lot about the bridge and I've decided… I've pushed my luck far enough. I want out." Harumi's eyes widened.

"Now?! You're going to quit on me just like that?! You're kidding!"

"You know… I stayed on because of our friendship." He says. "But I'm putting my life on the line every day I stay here. Gato and his thugs will show up eventually. When they do… they'll kill you and the bridge will never get finished anyway." Tazuna glared at him. "It's a lost cause Tazuna. Why don't we stop now while we can still get out of this _alive_."

"No chance." Tazuna replied. "This is our bridge. Our island is poor and it will stay that way until this bridge connects us to the mainland. Commerce, trade and hope! That's what we're building."

"There's not gonna be much hope if we're all dead."

"It's already noon. Let's break for lunch." Tazuna ordered coldly.

"Tazuna." He moaned as Tazuna brushed past him. "Let's not end it like this."

"Save your breath." Tazuna retorted. "Oh, and Geichi, don't bother coming back after lunch."

Harumi scowled at 'Geichi' before hurrying after Tazuna.

"Hey! Old man!"

"Huh? What do you want?"

"I'll help. I'm pretty strong and I've discovered I'm pretty handy with tools and building things." Harumi offered, pretty confident about her building skills. She was badass at legos, and origami and making her own tools and so on. Tazuna gently grabbed her wrists and inspected her hands.

"These are certainly a builders hands. Shame you're a ninja. I'm gonna work you like a dog to see what your made of so be prepared!"

Harumi saluted the older. "Understood! I'll give it my best!"

He did work her like a dog, or at least tried. She took every job in stride and did it faster than his best men with hardly any to no instructions. It was like building was in her blood. It was impressive to say the least. She wasn't kidding when she said she was strong either, carrying four beams at once and claiming that they aren't really that heavy. That she'd carry more if her arms were longer. They had made excellent progress with her help. They'd finish the bridge in no time. It really was a shame she was going to be a ninja instead of a builder.

Harumi set some beams down and brushed her hands off. She headed back for more but stopped as an odd twang reached her ears. She looked around, trying to pinpoint the source.

"Harumi! What are you doing!?" Tazuna was ignored and Harumi's face dropped in horror. The cable holding a lot of supplies, heading over the water, was being to fray. She darted for it waving her arms and shouting the cable. The man operating the crane realized what she meant immediately and tried to get the crane back over the bridge. It completely snapped and landed with a large bang. It tittered, half on the bridge, half off. She had slowed, watching it. In an instant, she realized which way it was going and sprinted forward. Just as the buddle supplies slid off the bridge, Harumi's hands grabbed hold off the cable.

She suppressed the urge to scream and the steel cable ripped through her hands, tearing apart her hands. But she didn't let go. She refused. No matter how much it hurt, she definitely wouldn't let go. Harumi gritted her teeth, tears welling in her eyes. Finally, she managed to stop it's descent before it hit the water. She stood there for a minute, shaking before slowly, but surely pulling the supplies back up, taking one step back at a time. If she moved her hands – her fingers – she'd drop it so she kept her iron grip on the cable.

The others hurried to help her pull it. They there themselves into saving the very much needed metal, not seeing the blood smeared across the cable, which made it slick. They stared ahead, watching for the gleam of the supplies. When Harumi realized they had it, she steadily peeled her fingers away.

Her hands and gloves were completely trashed and covered in blood. It was obvious a couple of layers were missing. They shook violently as white hot pain shot through her nerves. Harumi cradled her hands to her chest, letting the tears roll. She'd had some painful experiences but this definitely took the cake.

'It hurts… It hurts so much… so much…'

Tazuna looked over at the young girl to praise her, only to see her curled up on the ground, cradling her hands to her chest as she cried. His eyes snapped back to the cable and he noticed the blood that ran along it here and there. Quickly, he scooped up the young girl and hurried home to treat her wound, Sakura following close behind.

She'd never seen Harumi cry, **ever**. Not when she broke her arm, not when – in a training accident – she got stuck with a bunch of kunai and shuriken. Not even when her eye – which strangely still works – got pierced by glass. Now, the girl was shaking and trying her hardest to keep herself from falling apart completely. Sakura couldn't even begin to imagine how much pain Harumi was in.

Tazuna burst into the house, startling his daughter, grandson and Kakashi. Kakashi took one look at the young blonde began interrogating Tazuna on the way to the bathroom. Harumi was gently set down and then ordered out by Kakashi. He found the medical kit and everything he needed to treat her. He unwrapped a thick amount of gauze, hurriedly folded it and then paused. He looked into Harumi's pain filled, watery blue eyes and felt his heart squeeze.

"Brace yourself." With that, he pressed the gauze onto one of Harumi's hand and a loud, high pitched scream of pure agony tore from her lungs. She tried to jerk away from him, but he followed her until she hit the wall and he pressed her into it.

"It hurts! It hurts!"

"I know, Harumi. I know. But we have to stop the bleeding first." Minutes later, it finally stopped. Harumi sighed from relief. Kakashi looked at her sadly. "One down." She stiffened all over again. He got a new piece of gauze and repeated the process to her other, still bleeding hand.

Sakura cringed at the horrific sound. It sounded like Harumi was being brutally tortured. She covered her ears with her hands and tried to block out the noise; the screams, the pleads, the sobs. Tazuna tapped her on the shoulder and smiled a bit. His daughter had already taken Inari out so he wouldn't have to hear.

"Want to go shopping with me?" Sakura smiled wearily and nodded. She relaxed when she could no longer here Harumi's voice. But only just a bit. It rung in her ears every now and then, haunting her. Sakura was just glad Naruto wasn't there to hear it. She couldn't bare it, and highly doubted Naruto would have been able to.

Once it stopped bleeding, Kakashi inspected her hand for damage. It was pretty bad, but salvageable. Medical Ninjutsu worked wonders, although she wouldn't be able to receive treatment for some time. Plus, dragon sages had amazing healing abilities, just like they're teachers. As carefully as possible, he cleaned the wounds out to prevent injury.

"Oooo, ooo," Harumi breathed out, trying not to scream. It hurt so much.

He then proceeded to put an anti-bacterial cream on and around the wounds to keep it from becoming infected, help the burning and quicken the healing process. He wrapped gauze around her hands securely, provoking more whimpers from the girl.

"All done. Do you want to go lay down?" Harumi nodded, her lips quivering. As she walked she cradled her hands to her chest and refused to move them. Kakashi opened all the doors and then tucked her in. "Are you okay?"

"Better." She replied, her voice heavy and cracking. Kakashi reached up, running his fingers through her soft hair, before getting up to go check on Sakura. "Get some sleep." He called from the door.

When he closed the door, she turned on her side. The high collar off Sasuke's shirt pushed into her face and his scent infiltrated her nose. It was oddly comforting. She brought her hands up and put the backs of them to her nose, moving the shirt closer.

Kakashi entered the room again much later. She was sure night had fallen. "Harumi… Do you want to come eat?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You can't hide from him forever – or for very long."

"I know that."

Reluctantly, he turned away and went back down stairs. Harumi knew they were all back, but she couldn't see Naruto yet. He'd flip, focus more on her than the mission and she couldn't have that. For as long as possible, she'd hide it.

Harumi listened to what was going on down stairs. She could hear Naruto and Sasuke stuffing their faces. At the same time, the stood up, pushing their bowls out and declared they wanted some more! They both made a noise of surprise when they realized they did the same thing and then glared. And then they puked.

"Don't eat so much if you're gonna puke it up!" Sakura snarled. She was eating! The last thing she wanted to see was what she was eating puked up by someone else.

"_I…_ have to eat."

"I have to eat more than him." Naruto grounded out. "It's the only possible way I'll get strong enough to beat him."

"That's true," Kakashi mused. "But puking won't help you."

The commotion died down and dinner continued. Afterwards, the ninja team, Inari and Tazuna sat at the table drinking tea while Tazuna's daughter washed dishes.

"Where's Harumi?" Sasuke asked. Sakura felt irritated for a moment, only to remember why Harumi wasn't down here with them. She looked away, her shoulders dropping. She got up from the table so the two boys wouldn't see her expression and took interest in the picture on the wall.

"She's upstairs. Wore herself out helping Tazuna with building the bridge." Kakashi half lied. She was worn out from it, but that girl had more energy than everyone down here combined. She was upstairs because she didn't want Naruto to see her hands.

"She helped with the bridge?" Sasuke snorted. "Bet that was a disaster." He hadn't really meant it as mean, but teasing. Naruto scowled and snapped at Sasuke before Tazuna could correct the young Uchiha.

"For your information, Harumi's an amazing builder! With just about anything! Paper, legos, food, toothpicks, metal!"

"Naruto's right. Harumi worked a lot better than my best men." Sasuke merely nodded, and took a sip from his tea, feeling like a scolded child. He wondered if Harumi would have realized he was just joking and how she would react.

"Excuse me. This picture is torn." Sasuke had never been so grateful for the pinkette in all his life. "Is there some reason for that? Inari, you kept glancing at it all through dinner. It looks like there was someone else in the picture, but they got torn out. I mean, that's kind of strange, isn't it?"

Harumi could feel the tension from upstairs.

"It's my husband." Tazuna's daughter said.

"They use to call him a hero in this land." Tazuna added. Inari quickly left the table.

"Inari, where are you going!?" He ignored her and she hurried after him. "Father, you can't talk about him like that in front of Inari. You_ know_ that." She snapped and slammed the door behind her.

"Inari so… what happened to him?" Sakura asked, confused and concerned.

"Is there a story behind this?" Kakashi inquired.

"He wasn't his real father. He came into our family later and he brought so much happiness. He and Inari were very close. In those days, Inari used to laugh all the time. But then…" Tazuna's voice wavered. "All that ended. He never laughs or smiles anymore. Ever since the day everything changed. The word courage was stolen from this island. We were left feeling powerless – hopeless – and Inari suffered the most. Ever since that day. Ever since it happened."

"Tell us." Kakashi coaxed. "What happened to Inari?"

"First you need to know about, the man, his father. The man who taught us the word courage; who was a hero in this land."

"Hero? Really?" Naruto pressed.

"You can decide that for yourself. He came here about three years ago." It turns out Inari was being bullied. They had stolen his dog and then threw it in the water. Inari didn't know how to swim so he was too scared to jump in, but got pushed in.

"Interestingly enough, at that exact moment, Pooch figured out how to dog paddle." He made it to shore and Inari nearly dropped. He was saved by a stranger and woke up to cooking fish. Inari relayed his story to the man and he told the boy to 'live your life so you have nothing to regret'. It touched Inari's heart.

"His name was Kaiza. He was a simple fisherman who'd come here from another land to follow his dreams. After that, Inari and Kaiza were inseparable. The boy had never known his real father, so you can imagine what it meant to him to have Kaiza in his life. He looked up to him and followed in his footsteps, like a real father and son. Kaiza spent more and more time with us until he just naturally became a member of our family." A soft smile crossed both Harumi's and Naruto's expression. "And when this town needed him, became something more." A flood gate was open and the water was rising and the lower district was in danger of being flooded. Kaiza swam through the thick current, attached the line and the villagers pulled it closed, saving the lower district.

"From that moment on, Kaiza was considered a hero in this land. He taught us all the meaning of courage and Inari was so proud to be his son. But it wasn't long after, that Gato showed up and took over. He terrorized the hole village. Only Kaiza stood up to it. Gato couldn't have a local hero getting in his way. It took his whole gang to stop one man."

They beat him, completely broke his arms and set him up on a cross and then executed him in front of the whole village – in front of Inari – as an example.

Harumi screwed her eyes shut. She was angry and sad. Poor Inari.

"Since then Inari and Tsunami have changed. Everyone changed. We lost our will." Silence stretched on from down stairs and Harumi wondered what Naruto was thinking about. She heard him get up, only to fall down.

"What are you doing down there, Naruto?" Sakura sighed.

"You better take the day off." Kakashi added. "No more training. You've used too much chakra. If you push any harder, it could kill you."

Harumi smiled at that. He just wasn't used to Naruto's way of training. The boy always pushed himself to his limits and then some.

"I'm gonna prove it." Naruto wheezed.

"Prove what?" Sakura asked.

Naruto stood on shaky legs/ "I'll prove that… that it's true. That in this world, there are real heroes!"

'_Do your best Naruto'_

Only Sasuke and Sakura came into the room that night. Surprisingly, Sakura went to bed without a fuss and rather quickly. She must've been tired. Sasuke settled in his spot next to Harumi.

"You're awake." He breathed quietly. She nodded.

"Been awake." Sasuke's brow furrowed. If she was awake why hadn't she come down to eat dinner with everyone else?

"Did you hear…?"

"Everything, including you and Naruto throwing up down stairs." Amusement flitted across her expression.

"Are you alright? You seem… off."

"Don't tell Naruto?" Sasuke nodded. She took her hands out of hiding. He sat up straight. They were covered in bandages.

"What the hell happened?!"

"Shhh!" Harumi hissed quietly before glancing over her shoulder at the other female member of her team. Sakura continued to sleep soundly.

"A cable snapped and I grabbed it to keep the supplies from falling into the water."

"You're so reckless!" He snapped and got a glare from Harumi for being loud.

"I couldn't let it fall. They're really poor. They might not be able to afford extra materials. And if they don't have all the materials they can't finish the bridge."

Sasuke sighed irately. He knew that. That's why they were lied to about the mission, not that Harumi would know that. She wasn't there when they got attacked by the demon brothers. Didn't change the fact that he was unhappy with her injuries. He wondered how severe they were?

"Does it hurt?"

"A lot. I'd almost forgotten when a burn feels like." She mused.

"I'll help you change them in the morning." Harumi smiled at him kindly.

"That would be very much appreciated."

She reached up and pushed the backs of her hands into her mouth and nose, pressing Sasuke's shirt against her face again, in hopes that the comforting scent would relax her and help her sleep. It reminded her of cinnamon and smoke – oddly enough. Harumi wasn't aware that what she was doing could be considered creepy, especially in Sasuke's eyes. The reason she was pressing her nose into the shirt was because of the scent, not because it was Sasuke's shirt or Sasuke's scent. That just happened to be coincidence. It could've been Inari's or Kakashi's shirt and she'd react the same if they held this scent. But Sasuke didn't know that.

"Uh…"

Harumi opened her eyes and looked into Sasuke's disturbed onyx eyes.

"Hm?"

"_What_ are you doing to my shirt?"

"Huh? Oh, your scent… it's comforting. It's gotten rather faint, but still… it's relaxing. It'll help me sleep." Harumi explained.

"I see." When she put it that way… it didn't sound so creepy. "If the scent was stronger, would it help more?"

"Probably. Why?" Sasuke mulled it over in his head; finally deciding that if it helped, he would let her snuggle with him. Not to mention there was a part of him that was screaming for him to get closer to her and another part that desperately wanted to help her. Of course, there was a part of him that told him he shouldn't care and that he should back off. But, for tonight, he'd listen to the more positive parts.

"Come here." She gave him a questioning look. She made no move to get closer, so he did. Careful of her injured hands, he grabbed her wrists and pulled them forward, sliding in between her arms. Her eyes widened, face turning bright red. It reminded him of tomato. He chuckled at her expression. He then slid an arm around her neck, the other coming over her shoulder, and pulled her close.

"S-Sa-Sa-Sa-Sasuke!" Harumi stammered, having a hard time forming coherent thoughts, let alone words. "Wh-"

"This is better, isn't it? Surely, _my_ scent, isn't fading from my own body." Harumi relaxed, understanding what he was doing, but the blush remained. His actions were considerate and kind, but still flustering. Sasuke Uchiha didn't wear a shirt to bed. He said it was uncomfortable. If Harumi hadn't been in the room, he probably would have kept it on, from fear that Sakura might actually try to do something. Harumi would stop her, so there were no worries.

"Yeah…" With that, she closed her eyes, let his scent work its wonders and let sleep take her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the Characters besides Harumi, and anyone who doesn't belong to the original Naruto plot.**

Sasuke woke up first, like always. Harumi's sleeping face was the first thing he saw, and a small smile of endearment warmed his normally cold features. He reached up and brushed some hair out of her face. Subconsciously, he continued to run his fingers through the soft, golden strands. She took a deep breath in her sleep and let out a content sigh. He could get use to this; waking up to her every morning.

Harumi shifted slightly and then her eyes opened. She stared at him, half there, half not there.

"Come on, Harumi. Let's go change your bandages." Harumi nodded and allowed Sasuke to help her up. He pulled on a shirt and they made their way to the bathroom. As carefully as he could, he took off the dirtied bandages. She tried, but she couldn't hold back the whimpers. The bandage had gotten stuck to her palms a bit. She forced herself to stay still as tears welled in her eyes.

One of Sasuke's came parted from its gentle work on the bandage, brushing lightly over her wrist and down her arm comfortingly before returning to the bandage. It left tingles of pleasure amongst the pain, and Harumi focused on that.

Sasuke breathed deeply as he examined the damage. She barely had any flesh left on her palms or the inside of her fingers. Harumi watched the splay of emotion of the normally stoic boys face and the way his jaw set in a way that let Harumi know he wasn't happy.

"It was a lot worse yesterday." She softly whispered. "It's healing nicely." He looked at her for a minute before applying more anti-bacterial cream and then replacing the old bandages with fresh ones.

"That's good."

When they made it downstairs, Kakashi, Tsunami, Inari and Tazuna were already there. Sakura had yet to join them. Tsunami quickly made plates for the two additions to the table. Harumi missed Kakashi give Sasuke a teasing look and Sasuke looked away with a slight blush. She did notice that she had something extra added to her plate.

"It's an herb that speeds up the healing process." Tsunami explained.

"Thank you." Harumi was unable to feed herself, due to her tattered hands.

"Why don't you Sasuke?" Kakashi suggested mirthfully. "You'realready taking great care of her."

Sasuke had scowled but fed the disabled blonde nonetheless. As she chewed, he would stuff a spoonful into his own mouth. Harumi deliberately chewed slowly so Sasuke could finish his own meal in peace. By time Sakura joined them, Sasuke had finished. Sakura had glared at Harumi as she sat at the table. The blonde returned the look with a blank expression. Tsunami placed a bowl in front of Sakura and the girl turned with a smile.

"Thank you."

"Naruto's not here?" Tazuna asked. "Looks like he was out all night."

"He's gone completely crazy. He's climbing trees in the dark. He could be dead by now. You know, from using up too much of his Chakra." Harumi tensed up, instantly worried. She had come to know that Naruto was not very good at being able to recognize his own limits, and pushing them way too far. Her anxiety showed in the way her chewing sped up. She'd go look for him after she finished her breakfast.

"I hope he's okay. A child spending the night in the woods alone." Tsunami murmured.

"There's nothing to worry about. Naruto's a goofy kid but he's also a full-fledged ninja. He can handle."

"Sakura right." Sasuke says as Harumi swallows her last bite. "Naruto's such a loser." Harumi scowled at him. "He's probably laying out there dead somewhere." Harumi's anxiety raised several notches and Sasuke stood, heading for the door.

"Sasuke?" Sakura called out.

"I'm going for a walk." Harumi jumped up, following after him.

"I'm going to."

"But we just started eating!" Sakura called. It landed on deaf ears and the two closed the door behind them. She was surprised to see they were already done. "That was fast."

Harumi did her best not to run ahead and leave Sasuke behind.

"Calm down. I'm sure he's fine. You know the saying don't you? Idiots don't die easy." Harumi scowled. Up ahead, a woman in a kimono was heading towards. She passed between Harumi and Sasuke harmless, but Harumi realized it was a boy. A really pretty boy. Sasuke stopped and looked back, making Harumi stop as well and follow his gaze Naruto groaning drew Harumi's attention to him and she released a relived sigh, quickly hiding her hands behind her back.

"Whoa. I've seen a lot of weird things in my life before but this one takes the cake." Harumi grumbled as his two teammates approached him. Sasuke punched him and Harumi sighed.

"Ow, hey! What did you do that for!?"

"Hey twerp, did you…"

"Cut it out!"

"…just forget about Breakfast? You're such a loser."

"Would you stop calling him that?" Harumi snapped while Naruto just grinned goofily at him. Sasuke made a face and leaned away from Naruto. Harumi sat up in a tree as Naruto continued to practice. Sasuke was in a different tree also practicing. Kakashi and Sakura eventually came looking for the rest of their team.

"Knowing Naruto he could be anywhere. And Sasuke and Harumi haven't come back either. I wonder where they are." Just then a kunai landed at Sakura's feet. They looked up and spotted Naruto up on a high branch. She looked impressed by the fox like boy for once.

"What do you think? High enough for you guys? I mean, it's a long way down!" Naruto gloated. He hopped up, standing up straight and proud. And then he slipped. Harumi let out a small short shriek.

"Naruto!" Sakura gasped.

"Uh oh."

Sakura let out a scream as he continued to fall then, using his Chakra, he held onto the bottom of the branch with his feet. Naruto laughed.

"Just kidding! You guys really fell for it!" He laughed again.

"We were worried about you, Naruto!" Sakura scolded him. Harumi breathed out, rubbing a hand over her face, only to yelp. Tears sprung in her eyes and pain shot up her arm all the way to her spine. Then Naruto's feet came off branch with a 'pop' and Harumi, Kakashi and Sakura let out noises of shock. Naruto screamed as he fell. Sasuke quickly ran up the tree, caught Naruto's ankle and connected his feet to the same branch Naruto just fell from. Harumi breathed out for the umpteenth time that day.

"You really are a total loser Naruto."

"Ehh? Sasuke!?"

"Alright Sasuke. You're the best!" Sakura cheered.

"Thank you, Sasuke!"

Sasuke got Naruto down then hurried up to Harumi.

"Are you alright? I saw what you did."

Harumi laughed nervously. "I- I'm okay." Naruto was getting scolded by Sakura, so only Kakashi noticed the exchange and he smiled

Everyone sat around the table as Tsunami set the plates out.

"Now they're both late. I wouldn't have expected that from Sasuke." Sakura murmured.

"Why not? He's just as serious about his training as Naruto is." Harumi says. Just then, the door opened. Sasuke walked in with Naruto's arm over his shoulder.

"What've you been up to?" Tazuna asked. "You looked like something the cat dragged in."

Naruto straightened up, smirking. "We made it. We climbed all the way to the top."

"Good." Kakashi praised. "Now we move on. Starting tomorrow, you're both body guards from Tazuna."

Naruto laughed, throwing an arm up, as well as a leg, causing the both of them to fall back on their butt with groans of pain.

"You are such a loser!" Everyone chuckled a little, even Harumi. Sasuke took the seat next to Harumi. She was next to Inari. Naruto sat next to Kakashi. This left Sakura on an end, Tazuna on the other and one seat open on Kakashi and Naruto's side for tsunami.

Naruto's jaw dropped when he saw Sasuke feed Harumi. "Wh- What the-!? Why is Sasuke feeding you!? What's going on!?" Naruto exclaimed. Harumi reluctantly raised her wrapped hands.

"What happened?!" She relayed the story to Naruto.

"Oh man, and Sasuke's been taking care of you? Changing your bandages and such?" Harumi nodded. Sakura expected Naruto to start screaming at Sasuke but instead he looked at Sasuke with a grateful expression.

"Thanks, Sasuke. For taking care of her." Everyone was surprised by Naruto's reaction. Harumi smiled softly, her head tilting to the side.

Harumi started at her cup of tea, wondering how she was gonna drink it. Sasuke picked it up and held it up to her mouth. He barely tilted it, afraid of spilling it all over her. When her hand jerked upwards, he quickly moved it away.

"Thank you." He nodded and set the cup back down.

"A few more days. Then the bridge will be finished. I have you to thank for that." Tazuna breathed.

"You've all done well." Tsunami praised, collecting all the empty, dirty plates. "But you've still got to be careful."

"I've been meaning to ask you this but I haven't had the chance until now. Why did you stay and protect me even after you found out I lied to bring you here." Harumi snapped her head in Tazuna's directed. This was news to her.

"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader cowardice cannot survive." Kakashi sensei said. "That was a quote from the first Hokage." Inari looked at Naruto, eyes growing darker and darker before finally tearing up.

"But why?"Naruto sat up.

"What'd you say?"

Inari slammed his hands on the table. "All this stupid training is just a waste of time! Gato's got a whole army! They'll beat you down and they'll destroy you! These cool things you all say!" Sakura, Tsunami and Kakashi were all taken aback by the outburst. "They don't mean anything! No matter what you do, the strong always win and the weak always lose!" Tazuna, Sasuke and Harumi watched him sadly. Naruto was glaring.

"Speak for yourself! It won't be like that for me! You got that?" Naruto snapped.

"Why don't you just be quiet!? Just looking at you makes me sick! You don't know anything about this country! You're just butting in! Always laughing and playing around! You don't know what it's like to suffer and be treated like dirt! You and your sister!"

_'Why am I in this!?'_

"Listen to yourself whining and complaining like some sorry little victim! You can whimper all day for all I care. You're nothing but a coward!"

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted. "You went too far!"

"No, he didn't." Harumi hissed as Naruto got up and walked away. "Disgracing your fathers memory like that." Harumi snarled. "Giving in and then talking down to someone who hasn't? _That's_ disgusting. So what if he's got thugs? You just sit there and do nothing? When the hell did doing nothing ever change anything?! All this talk of strong and weak and I don't even think you know what those words are! Not like your father did. Don't sit here and act like you're the only person in this room who's ever suffered! We just haven't given up yet! WE won't let sadness or lose bet us and keep us from living! And I mean **living** not _breathing_!" With that, Harumi stormed out of kitchen as well, leaving behind a sobbing Inari.

She was furious. If he wanted to give up, fine! But he shouldn't talk down to those who hadn't and he definitely shouldn't act like he was the only person in the world suffering. Everyone had their scars. Sakura was bullied, Sasuke lost everything, and Naruto didn't have anything until she came along and Harumi… Harumi can't even remember her family from before Houka and she lost Houka.

Kakashi approached Inari, whom was sitting on the back porch. "Can I join you?" Inari said nothing. "Naruto and Harumi can be… a little harsh… sometimes. But they don't hate you. I'm not even sure if hate is an emotion Harumi is capable of. Your grandfather told us what happened… to your father. You probably don't know this, but… Naruto also grew up without a father. In fact, he never knew either of his parents and he didn't have a single friend in his village, until he was nine. That's when Harumi was brought into the village and was moved in with him. I found her, crying over her mother's corpse. Of course, Harumi's mother was a dragon, so that means she lost her biological parents as well, when she was five, I believe."

"Huh?"

"Still I've never seen him or her, cry, sulk or give up. They're always eager to jump in. Harumi's always been exuberant. It's just her personality, perhaps how she was raised and she sticks with those principals and even preaches them even after losing her mother. Her association with Naruto also alienated Harumi. And Naruto wants to be respected. That's his dream. And he'll put his life on the line for that in a heartbeat. My guess is that… they just got tired of crying and decided to do something about it. Even though they're young and still learning, Naruto more than Harumi, they know what it means to be strong, like your father did. I think they know better than any of us, what you're going through. What Naruto and Harumi told you earlier, as cruel as it sounded, they've probably told themselves that a thousand times."

"Okay, I leave Naruto and Harumi in your hands." Kakashi says. Naruto was still passed out from exerting himself and Harumi was taken off guard duty because of her hands. Her bandages had already been changed and she was set for the day. "He's pushed his body to the limit, as usual, so he may not be able to move today at all."

"What about you? You're still recovering yourself!" Tsunami pressed, concerned.

"Why? Do I look wobbly?" Kakashi chuckled a bit. "I'll be okay."

"Come on, let's go." Tazuna demanded. Harumi waved a bandaged hand after her teammates. When they disappeared, Harumi returned to her room. A little bit later, Naruto shot up in bed.

"Ah! Why didn't somebody wake me up!?" Harumi shrugged and her brother ran out of the room. He bugged Tsunami and learned that they'd already left. Naruto quickly returned and got dressed, grumbling something about being 'ditched'. He said goodbye to his sister and then tore after his team. Harumi stared after him, a bad feeling welling in her gut. Something was wrong.

"Harumi!" Tsunami called and she hurried down.

"Could you run to the store for me?"

"Sure."

Tsunami handed her some money. "I just need some carrots for dinner tonight." Harumi smiled and hurried to the store. With each passing second, her anxiety grew. Something was definitely wrong. After she got the groceries, she'd go join her team, make sure everything was okay.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the characters besides Harumi, and anyone else who doesn't belong to the original Naruto plot.**

"Harumi!" Tsunami called and she hurried down.

"Could you run to the store for me?"

"Sure."

Tsunami handed her some money. "I just need some carrots for dinner tonight." Harumi smiled and hurried to the store. With each passing second, her anxiety grew. Something was definitely wrong. After she got the groceries, she'd go join her team, make sure everything was okay.

It took her a minute to find the store, considering she'd never been to town. She carefully inspected the vegetable, picking the best ones out of the very few that there were. Shopping was only possible because she had all the flesh on her fingers back. She wanted to run, but the vegetables were bruised enough as it was, so she was forced to take it slow so she wouldn't jostle them anymore. She hated this feeling of dread welling inside of her.

Inari trembled and sobbed as the two thugs who cut down his houses door led his mother away. What could he do? He was just a little kid! He was scared and he didn't want to die. A tear fell, followed the curve of his hand and then dropped onto the ground. A single word floated through his mind.

_Coward._

Inari gasped, head jerking up as Naruto's voice continued to scold him. _'Listen to yourself, whining and complaining like some sorry little victim! You can whimper all day for all I care! You're just a coward!'_

Harumi's voice followed _'All this talk of strong and weak and I don't even think you know what those words are! Not like your father did. Don't sit here and act like you're the only person in this room who's ever suffered!'_

And then Kakashi's. _"My guess is… they just got tired of crying and decided to do something about it.' They know what is means to be strong… like your father did.'_

And finally his fathers. _'If you really care about something, protect it even if you have to put your life on the line. Protect it… with both arms.'_

Inari wiped his tears as his mothers face floated through mind, softly calling out his name. He also thought of Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke, and then Tazuna and his mother, then Harumi and then Naruto and lastly, his father. He wondered if he could be that strong. He stood, determined to _be_ that strong. He hurried outside to stop the thugs.

"Stop!" He shouted, gaining the trios attention.

"Inari!" Tsunami called, worried. Her eyes urged him to go back inside.

"How cute, you've come to save your mommy." The one with the eye patch mocked the boy.

"You… better get away from my MOM!" Inari charged. The eye patch chuckled.

"This kids a little short on brains, don't you think?"

"Take him down." The other sighed and the thugs drew their swords.

"If you hurt him, I swear I'll-" Tsunami was knocked out by the one with purple marks on his face. Inari got in range and they swung. The only thing they cut was log, into three large pieces and Tsunami had disappeared. The thugs were stunned.

"Sorry I'm a little late!" Naruto exclaimed, and the thugs eyed him, confused. He was laying Tsunami down and had Inari over his shoulder. "You know, heroes usually show up at the last minute."

"Naruto! It's you!" Inari gasped.

"Who else?" Naruto set the younger boy down. "Inari, you did great!"

"Huh?"

"When you charged, they forgot about your mom for a minute. That gave me the chance to use a cool jutsu to get her away from them!" Naruto elaborated. Inari discovered that Naruto knew what was going on from a boar that had been attacked and cuts on trees that lead back to the house. The thugs became impatient and charged. Naruto threw two shuriken, easily deflected.

"Try something else!" The purple marks taunted. Naruto grinned cheekily.

"I did." Just then, two clones snuck up and knocked the thugs out.

"You did it!" Inari gasped.

Naruto laughed. "Yeah! Believe it!"

Inari blinked and the chuckled to. "That was so excellent! Like a real ninja!"

"You twerp, I am a real ninja! That's what I've been telling you!" They began cackling.

Harumi's jaw dropped when she returned.

_'What the hell happened to the door!?'_

It had been cut into pieces. Even sections of the surrounding wall had been cut out. She tossed the carrots onto the table, sniffed the air for Tsunami and Inari's scent and rushed after them. She skidded to a stop at the back of the house. Naruto and Inari were standing on the dock, laughing like idiots, Tsunami was unconscious on the ground and two thugs were tied up.

"What is going on?"

"Huh? Oh, Hey, Harumi. These thugs tried to kidnap Tsunami. Inari and I saved her. Where were you?"

"Tsunami sent me grocery shopping."

"Oh. Okay, I'm gonna go back to the bridge."

"I'll be there in a little bit." Naruto frowned, not liking the idea of that. Harumi was strong. He knew that. But her tattered hands would be a weakness in two ways, weapons weren't as much of an option for her, and the enemy could target her hands to impede her attacks. That could end badly for her.

"I-" Harumi looked at him.

"Hurry up. Something's off. And I _will_ be there to support my team. I'm just gonna make sure there aren't any back up thugs around, waiting for us to leave or ambush us and then I'll be on my way." Naruto pushed his lips into a thin line and then nodded. Once Harumi made up her mind, changing it was as nearly impossible feat, especially when it came to people she cared about. All he could do was try to finish things up before she got there.

Harumi scanned the area, placing clones here and there to keep watch on the house for after she left, in the event that some showed up while she was away. She found none, which was relieving. She wanted to get going as soon as possible and make sure her team was okay.

When she landed in front of the house, the echoes of a female scream reached her sensitive ears and she went rigid. She knew that voice, it was Sakura. The pinkette was prone to screaming, but it still frightened her. Harumi sped towards the bridge, leaving a clone behind with a snap that produced a spark and a flame. She mentally scolded herself, telling herself she should have gone sooner, should have gone with Naruto. Her teammates - her comrades - were in danger.

Naruto's eyes steadily opened. He'd been knocked out in the fight between Haku and Sasuke and himself. Sasuke stood over him, protectively, which he found odd. He opened his mouth to question his dark haired teammate, but Sasuke beat him to the punch, having noticed Naruto was waking up.

"You always get in the way, Naruto. It never fails." His voice cracked on many places but Naruto paid no mind. He saw Haku laid out on the ground and grinned.

"You did it! You beat him, Sasuke!" He finally took in everything; all the needles stuck in Sasuke body, Sasuke's hunched frame and shallow breathing, and the pool of blood at Sasuke's feet, and gasped. Sasuke was hurt really badly. The blackette looked over his shoulder.

"You should see the look on your face." He grunted. "You… you look like a total loser."

Naruto knew. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he _knew_ those wounds came from protecting him from Haku. "Why? Why did you… save me?" Sadness and guilt and panic darkened his expression. "Why did you do it?"

"I don't know why." Sasuke replied. Naruto noted that talking sounded like it was difficult for him as Sasuke looked ahead. "I just did." Memories of the short time they've been together came to the front of his mind; Naruto getting in his face, Naruto declaring _'And my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage, then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody', somebody important',_ Their first mission – catching Tora, Naruto stabbing himself in the hand, mocking Naruto, the eating contest, sharing his lunch, coming back from training together, their first encounter with Zabusa, Naruto thanking him for taking care of Harumi.

_Harumi…_

The memory of Harumi, whimpering with tears in her eyes as he bandaged her hands came to mind and he smiled. He had instinctively reached out and caressed her skin to lessen the pain in any way he could. Perhaps this is the same. Maybe, subconsciously, he knew, that teary expression on her face he hated to see would be ten times worse if her beloved brother died, and he did what he could prevent that from happening.

"_You_… I _hated_ you." Naruto shot up.

"Then why!? It doesn't make any sense. Why did you-" He couldn't bring himself to finish the rest of his sentences. Sasuke just made a noise and Naruto glared. He was confused and upset and he wasn't getting any answers. "I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask for you to save me!"

A tear welled up in the corner of Sasuke's left eye, his smile long gone. If that was the case, there was no way in hell he was telling Naruto that and he couldn't stop the sting of regret in his heart. He wasn't ready to die. He had a goal to accomplish and… Harumi, singing and swaying to her voice as she cooked him breakfast painted itself across his mind. "I don't know, My body just moved. There was no time to think." The tear fell as Sasuke's body gave out and Naruto caught him.

It was the first time Naruto had seen so much emotion on Sasuke's face as one time, and it was all negative; sadness, fear, regret, bitterness…

"My brother… he's still out there… My brother… I promised myself… I'd stay alive… until I killed him. Naruto… don't let your dream die and don't… let some jerk be the one… who get's Harumi's heart." The hand that was reaching up towards Naruto's face dropped. Naruto's heart skipped a beat. Sasuke stared into Naruto's widened ones for a moment, trying to fight death and then breathed out his final breath, eyes closing. Naruto's eyes watered, his heart thumping painfully. He could even hear it. Naruto hugged Sasuke's body that was growing colder.

Haku was stunned in a touched way. Sasuke had found a strength he didn't realize had until an important person was in danger and rushed into that danger to save them. Slowly, the masked boy stood.

"He was a true ninja, worthy of honor. Is this the first time you have seen a friend die in battle. This is part of what it means to be a ninja." Haku slunk back into his ice mirrors, mostly unfazed by the boy's death.

"Shut up," Naruto snarled and gently set the last Uchiha's corpse down. "I… I hated you too Sasuke. And yet…" Steam rolled off Naruto as his anger continued to rise. "You'll pay for this." It swirled upward and then became reddish-orange chakra. It was sinister and full of blood lust and anger. Dangerous. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Harumi was nearly there when she smelt something rotten, an evil chakra. She wanted to turn and run, but there was something familiar within that chakra and it clicked. The nine tails inside Naruto was the source of the foul chakra. The seal had been broken. Harumi landed on the bridge, just a short distance from some ice panel dome. She caught sight of Naruto inside, holding onto someone's arm. He punched them, sending them flying and the dome began to shatter. On closer inspection, she realized there was simply a crack in the seal and he would be fine. Harumi decided it be best to leave the masked boy to Naruto with the state he was in.

She scanned, looking for her teammates in the thick fog. She felt like a stone had dropped on her stomach and her heart twisted when her eyes landed on Sasuke, lying amongst the shards of ice. She stumbled towards him as nausea made her stomach queasy. She dropped to her knees next to him. There was no body heat coming off him at all. He's been fighting. It was only natural to have sweat and body heat and yet there was none. There were so many needles and so many _cuts_.

She pressed her fingers to his neck. A chocked off sob came out of her throat. There wasn't a pulse. He didn't have a pulse! She shook her head and then pressed her ear to his chest and still nothing. Harumi sat back up and stared down at Sasuke. If only she had been there. If she hadn't gotten hurt she would have been! And Sasuke wouldn't be… She had wanted to create more happy memories with him. Robotically, with a despair ridden, nearly empty, hollow eyed expression and tears rolling on her face, she removed the needles protruding from Sasuke's body one by one, leaving behind holes that would never close.

Inari jumped when Harumi's clone burst into flames and disappeared. She had been helping him round up people to go help take back the bridge when all of a sudden she gasped and burst into flames. He hadn't missed the despair in her face, the glistening tears that welled in her eyes and his stomach clenched uneasily.

She should probably be helping protect Tazuna, or taking down Zabusa and Haku, but she remained next to Sasuke's corpse. Harumi wasn't sure if she'd be much help right now any way. She couldn't even feel her chakra and had absolutely no desire to do anything. She left like… a piece of herself had died, just like when Houka died. She remembered what Houka said.

_'The bonds we dragons make, are much different from other creatures, all creatures. To make a bond with someone else, is to share a part of our soul with them, and too lose that person, is get a blow to your soul and lose part of what you shared. Sometimes, you get it back bit by bit, and sometimes you never get it back. Souls can grow as well, so it's not like you'll die or become emotionless if you lose too much of your soul, but… it is a pain like nothing you have or ever will feel, until the day the person you love most dies. __**That**__ is something else entirely and, fortunately and unfortunately, you won't have to suffer from it long.'_

Sakura and Tazuna joined Harumi just as the blonde finished pulling out all the needles and took Sasuke's cold hand in her own. The pinkette gasped and Tazuna turned away, finding the sight of a murdered child too much to bear. Sakura was frozen for a moment before falling to her knees beside Sasuke, on the side opposite of Harumi. She reached over, cupping his cheek.

"His body is cold. This isn't one of his Genjutsu tricks is it?" Harumi's grip on Sasuke's limp hand tightened. She couldn't even feel the pain it should be causing her.

"Go on. You don't need to be brave on my account. Go ahead and let your feelings out, Sakura. It's alright." There was no response for a moment.

"I was the best. Aced every test at the academy. The perfect student." Tazuna gave her his full attention. "You know, there are more than one hundred principals of Shinobi conduct. I memorized every single one. I used to love it when they tested us on them. It gave me a chance to show how smart I was. I remember, so clearly, this one exam. They asked us to explain the 25th principal. I got it right of course." Tears fell down Sakuras face. "A Shinobi never shows his feelings. No matter the circumstances. Feelings are a weakness that only cloud his judgment and weaken his sense of duty." A tear drop fell on Sasuke's face. She leaned down on him, calling out his name. She continued to bawl.

Harumi paid them no mind. She couldn't be bothered with it at the moment. Maybe if she and Sasuke hadn't become so close, she could comfort Sakura, but in the time she's gotten to know Sasuke, she had come to think of him as a friend and she had to deal with her own grief before she could help another.

The image of a red thread in darkness popped up in Harumi's mind. It glowed, then dimed and then glowed and then dimed and finally, remained glowing. Harumi locked onto Sasuke's face as his eyes blinked open and she couldn't breath as a fresh wave of tears rose up.

"Sakura… it's hard to breath with you on top of me." Harumi sputtered a laugh, bringing Sasuke's hand, still held in hers, up to her chest. From a glance, it would be hard to tell if she was laughing or crying. Sakura sat up in shock.

"Sasuke!" Sasuke blinked at her. "Tazuna, he's alive! Alive!" She pulled him up and into his arms, holding him tightly. Harumi cried silently, clutching his arm to her chest. Her tears of relief fell on his arm and she pressed her lips against his knuckles.

A jolt shot through Sasuke's nerves, starting from his knuckles. He looked over and swallowed thickly, trying to contain his blush. Harumi was kissing his knuckles! She pulled away and then nuzzled his hand to her wetted cheek. He began to sit up. Sakura tried to make him lay back down, while Harumi helped him up. Sakura glared but Harumi paid her no mind.

"How's Naruto?" Harumi waited for the answer as well, as Sasuke hunched over, holding his stomach. "And what happened to that guy in mask?"

"Naruto's just fine." Harumi let out a relieved breath. "But the… the one in the mask. He's dead." Sasuke's head shot up out of shock.

"Dead! But how!? Did… Naruto do it!?"

"Oh, I… I came in late. I'm not sure what happened. He was protecting Zabusa."Harumi put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Then it was probably Kakashi-sensei who delivered the final blow, but Naruto did punch Haku threw his ice mirrors and then some. He was really angry about…" Harumi averted her gaze from Sasuke, bangs falling to hide her eyes. Sasuke reached up with the hand Harumi had kissed, placing it over the hand on his shoulder. She smiled at him, new tears sparkling like diamonds. Her warmth made him realize how cold he was and he leaned towards her.

"You're warm."

"I'm always warm." She felt his freezing skin and wrapped an arm around him, tucking herself into his side. Sakura scowled at how cozy Harumi was being with Sasuke. "I'm a fire dragon. Warmth is part of the package."

"I had faith in you Sasuke. I knew you'd pull through. You're too cool a guy to stay down for long." Harumi rolled her eyes. Like being cool affected your mortality. Sakura stood.

_'He never meant to… from the very beginning. It was just a temporary death state, like what he did with Zabusa. The process was just slower.'_

"Naruto!" Sakura called out as Harumi helped Sasuke up, staying close to share her natural warmth. "Over here! Look its Sasuke! He's alright! He's alright!"

Naruto completely turned around. Sasuke looked at him and then off into the horizon before closing his eyes and waving a bit. Harumi could see the tears and happiness from where she was and squeezed Sasuke's wrist. His hand slid up, grasping her hand in his own, carefully. He hadn't forgotten that her palms were cut up.

"You scared the hell out of me." She murmured.

"Sorry." He murmured back. The repeated clang of metal caught their attention. Apparently, while Harumi was lost in her depression, Zabusa had taken out Gato and then collapsed himself. The clang came from a thug hired by Gato slamming his weapon on the bridge.

"Hey! Don't go gettin' to comfortable"

"This party ain't over yet. Who's gonna pay us now that Gato's gone."

"No way we're gonna leave here empty handed. So we'll just have hit that village and see what they've got for us."

Shouts of approval echoed from the rest of the group of delinquents. Harumi scowled, irritated and then the group charged. They came to an abrupt halt when an arrow lodged in the ground in front of them. Everyone looked back to see the entire village armed with various tools for weapons and Inari with a crossbow.

"There's one thing you're forgetting about. Before you set one foot in our village, you'll have to go through us." A battle cry ripped out of every villager's mouth.

"Inari!" Naruto gasped.

"You know, heroes usually show up at the last minute!"

"They've all come. The whole village." Tazuna was touched and it brought tears to his eyes. The thugs looked nervous. They were outnumbered. Naruto smirked and then produced four clones. The thugs got more nervous. Kakashi performed the clone jutsu and a hundred of him popped up. The thugs ran away, hurrying back to the boat they came in. Everyone cried out in victory and after it died down, they realized Kakashi was carrying Zabusa over to Haku and it started to snow.

Harumi's head fell on Sasuke's shoulder as she watched the scene play out with sad eyes. She could feel the connection between those two Shinobi. It was as beautiful as the snow and she hoped, one day, she could also obtain a bond that beautiful.

Team seven buried their enemies up on a cliff that over looked the village right next to each other, both with a ring of purple woven flowers around the crosses. Zabusa's sword was stuck into the ground behind his grave and Haku's sash marked his grave.

"Is that really it, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked. "Is that the ninja way? To use and be used by people like tools."

"Shinobi are all merely tools in the hands of destiny. No point in wondering whether it's right or wrong, it just is. It's the same in the village hidden in the leaves." He answered.

"Well, if you ask me, if that's what being a ninja is all about something's out of wack!" Naruto snapped. "Is that why we go through all this training. Just to end up like them!"

"What is the reason for that?" Sasuke pressed.

Kakashi sighed. He would get the philosophical group that wanted to ask questions he really didn't have the answers to. "Well, it's a question without an answer. And that is something we ninja have to deal with everyday of our lives, like Zabusa and the kid."

There was a long pause. "Okay!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hm?"

"I've just come to a decision. From now on, I'm finding my own ninja way; A way that's straight and true and without any regrets. From now on I'm following the way of Naruto!" Harumi smiled at that and was sure it would be a very beautiful and righteous path.

The team returned to the now completed bridge, belongings in tow. Some of the villagers were seeing them off.

"We could have never finished the bridge without you." Tazuna praised them. "I can't tell you how much were going to miss you."

"Do be careful." Tsunami added kindly.

"Thank you for everything." Kakashi says.

"Now, now, don't get all chocked up. Well come back real soon." Naruto chimed.

"You swear you will." Inari's voice quivered, letting them know he was on the verge on crying. Tazuna placed a hand on the young boys head.

"Of course." Naruto's voice quivered, eyes watering. "You know Inari, it's okay to cry if you want. There's nothing wrong with that. Go for it!" Harumi pursed her lips and smiled in amusement. This was too good. Naruto was so weird, in a good way.

Tears sprung up in Inari's dark eyes as well. "Who says I wanna cry! Anyway, if there's nothing wrong with it then why don't you go on and cry."

"Nope! You first!" Naruto was trying real hard to hold in the waterworks. They had a stare off to see who would cry first and then Naruto whipped around, crying waterfalls, much to Inari's dismay. He quickly mimicked Naruto's expression, neither of them aware that the other was crying. Harumi turned her face away from Naruto and laughed quietly at his antics.

"Naruto, you're a trip!" Team seven began their journey home. Harumi took mental pride in being one of the first people to cross the new bridge. She wondered what they'd name it. She'd find out someday.

"When we get back I'm gonna let Iruka-sensei fix me and Harumi up a whole mess of ramen and fire to celebrate a mission accomplished. Oh! And just wait till I tell Konohamaru about all my adventures. The kids going to worship me!" Naruto babbled.

"Hey," Sakura softly called.

"Yeah?"

"Not you Naruto." Sakura brushed him off. "Sasuke, when we get back do you want to do something together?"

"I don't think so." Sasuke casually rejected her. "Thanks." Harumi smiled at how nice he was about it. She wasn't expecting him to thank her for the offer, even if he didn't really mean it.

"Okay."

"Sakura, I'll do something with you if you want!" Naruto eagerly suggested.

"What!?" She picked him up by the collar only to drop him because of the venomous glare from Harumi. "That was a private conversation!"

"What about that that private! You said it in front of _all_ of us, hence, we _all_ heard you get rejected. Stop being an insufferable bitch!"

"What!?"

"Are you deaf or are you just stupid?" Kakashi sighed.

"Well… you're a whore!"

"Sakura!" Kakashi snapped and Harumi popped an eyebrow at the pinkette.

"Says the girl constantly – _shamelessly_ - throwing herself at Sasuke. I'm sure you'd gladly open your legs for him if he asked you to, considering your whole personality and interests are based on him." Sakura's face flared and she looked away with a 'hmph'.

_Sakura – 0, Myself- 1,324. When will she learn?_

**Sorry for the long wait. Between finals, family, friends, Christmas, New Years, Birthday's, attempting to have a life, chores and then settling back into school when it started again, finding time to write was - is - a bit difficult. Kawaihana, your comment really pushed me to try to find - make - time to write, thank you. Once again, I apologize for the wait for those of you who love my story and wait for it to be updated. I'll try to keep up a good pace. Chapter 13 is about done and should be up soon. I hope the three chapters I posted today makes up for my negligence.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the characters besides Harumi, and anyone who doesn't belong to the original Naruto plot.**

Harumi yawned as she cooked breakfast, her hands fully healed.. Seconds later she heard a yawn come from her brother's room, letting her know Naruto was awake. She set the table and then put some eggs and bacon on Naruto's plate as he sat down. She did the same for herself and then joined him at the table. She watched him pick up his milk carton and shake it. He was wary of milk now since that accident on the day team seven was grouped together. Harumi would've felt bad for having not thrown it away, if Naruto took better care of himself and his room. She considered it karma.

After breakfast they got dressed in their ninja gear and exited the house. Harumi locked the door and Naruto tightened his forehead protector, grinning.

"Okay, wake up." He demanded doing some stretches. After he finished he sped away. "Rock n' roll!" Harumi quickly followed, still tired. Her hands had just healed and trying to sleep without Sasuke next to her to relax her while her hands burned made very long nights. Her tolerance level was significantly lower when she's tired too, and there's been a lot of arguing with Sakura the past couple of days. She'd even snapped at Sasuke and Naruto a couple times.

_'It's too early for this shit.'_

When they arrived at the bridge, Sakura and Sasuke were already there. Of course, Kakashi-sensei wasn't. He never was.

"Hey! Good morning, Sakura. What's up?" Naruto cheerily greeted the kunoichi and then he gave Sasuke an odd look; a cross between irritation and a semi-glare with a frown. Sasuke returned it and Harumi sighed. She was so far from in the mood to deal with their rivalry. Harumi looked between the two as they had a stare off. Eventually, Naruto turned his back to Sasuke with a stomp and a 'hmph'. At the same time, Sasuke simply swiveled his head in the opposite direction of Naruto.

Sasuke also hadn't come over from dinner in the past couple of days. Harumi had invited him, even tried to bride him with spaghetti and tomato riceballs, and still nothing. That didn't stop her from feeding him of course. She'd make a plate, sneak into his kitchen and leave in there with a note. The dishes always came back empty and clean, sitting on the kitchen table with a note that said 'stop'. Though, she continued nonetheless. Consequently, Sasuke hadn't talked to her at all yesterday. Seems it was going to be the same today, considering he didn't even look at her. She didn't understand his sudden need to distance himself and it was irritating.

"Morning Sakura, Sasuke."

"Morning Harumi." Sakura whispered meekly. She watched Sasuke, waiting for him to respond, but he didn't even turn around. Not only were Naruto and Sasuke getting along worse, even Harumi and Sasuke weren't getting along!

Time ticked and Harumi could feel the cracks in her control over her temper appearing. Her arms were crossed and she tightly gripped them in her hands.

"Hey, guys." Kakashi-sensei greeted casually as he appeared on top of the structure built over the pathways. "Good morning. Sorry I'm late. I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life."

His students looked at him with disbelieving, outrage. This was getting old.

"I'm ready for the next ninja mission, sensei!" Naruto shouted. "And hey! Come on! No more of this dumb beginners stuff okay? I want a chance to prove myself! I'm talkin' a real mission where I can show what I'm made of!" Naruto closed his eyes and when they opened, they seemed like they were on fire. "I gotta break out and burn it up! SEE!"

"Uh… right." Kakashi murmured, unsure of what to do with the overly eccentric boy. "I get it. That's great Naruto. Now, take it easy, would you?"

Naruto instantly turned and glared at Sasuke. Said boy had his eyes closed. He could feel an intense stare and opened them. He expected Harumi, but it was Naruto. Sasuke waited for Naruto to say something. The boy simply completely turned around to face him, raised his hands up in a karate chop fashion, almost like he wanted to fight.

'_Sasuke. He's always rescuing everyone on out missions, trying to grab all the glory and make me look like a chump! But he'll never get the edge on me!'_

Sakura glared at Naruto while Sasuke fixed him with a bored look.

_He's such a twerp!'_

Naruto growled, raising one hand and clenching it into a fist, determinedly.

'_Today's the day!'_

In Naruto's day dream, Sasuke was all cut up and collapsed. A kunai soared towards the fallen boy but Naruto intervened, deflecting the kunai with his own and saving Sasuke. When Naruto looks up, sparkling with a smirk, he says;

"What's the matter? Can't take care of yourself Sasuke?" Daydream Naruto mocked the fallen Uchiha.

"Believe it!" Naruto shouted, flaming up again. Harumi sighed. She just wanted to go back to bed.

"Are you okay, Harumi?" Kakashi asked, concerned. She was normally as energetic as Naruto.

"Fine. Just tired." She answered.

"You do have bags under your eyes." Kakashi observed. "But are you sure that's the only reason?" Harumi frowned, her eyebrows pulling together in confusion. Kakashi smiled at her denseness. He rubbed her head. "You just haven't realized it yet. Anyways…" He quickly started before Harumi could question him. "I have a present for you."

"Eh? But why?"

Kakashi said nothing as he presented the young girl he viewed as a daughter with a pair of gloves. "Seeing you without gloves is just too weird."

A smile lit up Harumi's face. The gloves were black, and fingerless, like her previous. More than that, they had that metal bar that Kakashi's had and the fabric protected against friction burns.

"But- But these are expensive!" She protested. Kakashi waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it." Kakashi-sensei didn't miss the glare Sasuke directed at him.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." She opened her arms up for a hug and he swiftly bent down.

"You miss him." Kakashi whispered into her ear before pulling away and patting her head again. "Alright, let's start the mission."

Harumi pulled on her gloves, frowning. Who did she miss?

"Right!" Naruto chirped.

"Could you not be so annoying Naruto, just for once?" Sakura snapped.

"Could you the hell up Sakura, just for once?" Harumi snarled. She was getting sick of Sakura continuously insulting Naruto and always butting in on Naruto's and Sasuke's arguments. If they wanted to fight, let them fight.

The first mission was picking weeds out of a garden. Harumi worked diligently. She had been exempt from any hands on missions until her palms were fully healed – which was practically everything – so she wanted to make it up to her teammates. She also pondered what Kakashi-sensei said to her and still couldn't put a finger on it. The only person she's ever missed that's a guy is Naruto and she's had plenty of time with him. Her injury made him dote on her to the point she _wanted_ some space.

"Hey you!" Harumi turned, saw all the mound of herbs as tall as Naruto behind her brother and face palmed. Harumi had to admit it… sometimes, Naruto really was an idiot.

"Hi lady! I got rid of all your weeds, pretty cool huh?" The woman literally shook with anger. "Uh, What's wrong?"

"You pulled the weeds and you also pulled up my plants."

"Huh?"

"Those were special herbs I'd been growing and YOU **destroyed** them!" Harumi turned away as the woman began to beat up her brother. He kind of deserved it.

The next task was cleaning all the trash out of the river. The four walked in the knee deep water while Kakashi read his book. Naruto had a black eye from the woman from earlier. Suddenly, Naruto fell and the current swept him away towards the waterfall. Sasuke reacted first, hurrying after Naruto. He attached a wire to a branch hanging over the falls and lowered himself down, catching Naruto's ankle. Naruto screamed until he realized he'd been saved.

"You are such a loser." Naruto glared at the pale skinned boy.

The next task was walking dogs. Naruto choose the biggest dog and it was dragging him towards a mine field. There were only three dogs, and Sakura and Sasuke had the other ones, so Harumi just stood there.

"What a loser." Harumi stomped on Sasuke's foot.

"Hey!" He snapped.

"Oh? Are you speaking to me now?" Harumi retorted monotonously without looking at dark haired male. He glared in the other direction with a frown. She was mad at him, that much was obvious. Kakashi found the exchange to be rather amusing from his perch on the branch. Those two would make excellent study material for one of Jiraiya's books.

Sakura sighed. "Of course. He just has to choose the biggest dog!" She was trying to break the tension and failed miserably. Neither of them took notice of what she had just said. The dog continued to pull Naruto through a break into the fencing that was just big enough for the two of them to slip through. Naruto shouted protests to no avail and then a series of bombs went off. Sakura, Sasuke and Harumi watched in shock before sighing. The dog was completely fine and happy, while Naruto was brown and beat up with smoke rising off him.

Harumi and Sasuke helped Naruto down the streets.

"Look at you." Sakura scolded him. "You're hopeless Naruto."

"You really are just one big problem." Sasuke scoffed. Naruto became angry and he thrust Harumi away from him, lunging for his rival. Sakura cut him off with an arm. He gasped and stopped.

"If you keep this up I'll finish you off myself!" Sakura snarled.

"If you don't stop putting your nose where it doesn't belong, I'm gonna break it!" Harumi growled. Kakashi sighed.

"Guess we're not making a lot of progress on the teamwork thing, huh?"

"That's right!" Naruto exclaimed. "Our teamwork's all messed up and it's all because if you Sasuke. You think you're better than everyone else!"

"Not everyone, just you." Sasuke corrected Naruto without looking back. "Face it; I'm better and stronger than you are. It's a fact." He stopped and looked over his shoulder in Naruto's direction. "Unless you have what it takes to prove me wrong."

Anger splayed across Naruto's face and a growl rumbled in his throat. Sasuke stared back, daring him to do something. Haku's mask flitted across his thoughts and he scowled.

'_I don't have time to waste on Naruto or these lame missions. There are still ninja out there you can out fight me. I've got to hone my skills so I can beat them.'_

A bird circled over head and cawed. Kakashi caught the message his students didn't. Not that they were meant to. "Alright guys, let's call it a day. You can beat each other to a pulp some other time. Anyway, I have to file my report on this mission."

"Whatever. I'm out of here." Sasuke muttered and stalked off. A pang shot through Harumi's heart and she frowned. It hurt that he wouldn't say a word or look at her when all she was, was nice to him. It hurt that he was pushing her away and they were just starting to get along. She knew they could be good friends if he would just them be. With a jolt, she realized it was Sasuke that Kakashi was talking about. She missed Sasuke.

Sakura gasped and darted after him, shouting, "Wait! Sasuke I'll go with you."

Naruto reached for her, making a noise of dismay. He was hoping to hang out with his apple eyed crush. His face dropped when he realized it wasn't going to happen. Sasuke stopped and stared at Sakura as she talked and fiddled with her fingers.

"So um… why don't we… I mean you know… let's do something more personal!" She finished her stammering cheerily, raising her clasped hand to pressed them against her cheek. While most boys might think it cute, it became painfully obvious Sasuke wasn't impressed. "I mean to improve out teamwork n all."

"I swear, you're just as bad a Naruto." A figurative rock fell towards Sakura and her inner self caught and held it up. Harumi snorted. Despite her brother having been insulted, she was enjoying this. "Instead of flirting, why don't you practice your jutsu and make the team stronger. Let's face it. You're actually **worse** than Naruto."

The rock tripled in size and the inner self was having trouble holding it up. Sakura held a crushed expression, but Harumi ignored it and slipped away to talk to Sasuke, unnoticed. She wanted to get to the bottom of his rude behavior and, hopefully, resolve it.

As she caught up, she grabbed his arm and drug him onto an alley way to talk to him privately.

"Hey! Harumi! What are you-!?"

"Shut up." She ordered and stopped, whipping him in front of her before crossing her arms and putting most of her weight on one leg. "What is your problem?"

Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at wall. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Harumi scowled. "Don't play dense, Sasuke. It doesn't suit you. Why don't you come over anymore? Why don't we talk or hang out any more? Why are you being so distant!? I don't understand!" As she continued, her voice rose and Harumi realized just how hurt by Sasuke's actions she was. She never put much thought into it, especially with the lack of sleep. Her heart contorted painfully in a way it never has before.

"Look…" He finally looked at her and then froze, his words dying. It was like all the breath had been stolen from him. He swallowed. "Harumi…"

"Don't! Don't you dare stand there and look at me like you care! You don't care and you _don't_ get to come into someone's life and pretend to care and make them care about you and then check out, let alone without warning!"

"Pretend? _Pretend!_ You think… you **think** that was **pretend**? Why would I even waste my time pretending to care for someone?"

"If it wasn't pretend why would suddenly rip yourself out of my life, the only reason would if…" Harumi trailed off, ice sliding into her veins.

'_If… if I did something wrong? If I had hurt him?'_

"What did I do? I did something didn't I? What was it? I can fix it, if you give me chance!" She gushed. The idea that she hurt a friend killed her inside, regardless of whether or not Sasuke considered her a friend, especially if it was too the point that they no longer wished to be associated with her. He had become important to her and forever would be.

"Harumi, calm down." He placed his hands on her shoulders, inwardly re-noting the already known fact that she was tiny. "You didn't do anything." Sasuke's thumb slid over her prominent collar bone gently, afraid if he applied too much pressure, she would break. She was such a fragile looking thing, like a porcelain doll. She didn't seem to notice, or at least, not fully. Sasuke felt the shiver that passed through her small frame.

"Then why!?" It came out as a sort of wail. She was confused and hurt, and Sasuke's thumb sliding over her collarbone was really distracting, although it felt good. If she's done nothing wrong, what reason could he possibly have for shutting her out?

"I… don't know. I just…" Suddenly, Harumi stiffened and turned away.

"There's some unfamiliar ninja screwing with some of our younger academy students and our teammates." Harumi growled irately.

"Then let's go put an end to it." With that, they took off. Sasuke let Harumi's superior senses guide them to their teammates. At least he had an excuse to keep his eyes on her. Her lips parted a bit as she breathed in and the memory of her kissing his knuckles came back. He blushed and quickly looked away.

'_Damn it! Stop thinking about that!'_

"We're approaching." Harumi saw Sasuke nod out of the corner of her eye. They arrived on a branch as a man wearing a cat-like hat pulled back his arm to punch Konohamaru, whom was being held off the ground by his scarf. Sasuke threw a rock, hitting the enemies' wrist. This caused him to drop Konohamaru and the boy scampered over to Naruto. Sasuke tossed a rock up and down, waiting for them to notice them.

"You're a long way from home." He said, once they did. "And way out of your league."

"Sasuke!" Sakura cooed. Naruto scowled up at him while the – Harumi's eyes locked on his headband – sand ninja held his hand and glared. His compliance smirked at Sasuke, blushing. It was obvious she was crushing on Sasuke, though it didn't seem to be to the same degree of other girls.

"Oh great, more wimps to tick me off." Kitty ears grumbled.

"Oh great, more idiots without manners. Didn't your parents ever teach you how to act in someone else's home?" Harumi retorted. They had some nerve, coming into their home and picking on their children. How stupid were they? They're asking for trouble, a war if their country defends their actions… Harumi narrowed her eyes. We _just _signed an alliance with them. Sasuke glared and crushed the rock he had been tossing.

"Get lost." Sakura, Moegi and Udon squealed. 'So cool'. Naruto poked his fingers together. Harumi's guess was that he attempted to help Kono and failed. Kono frowned; looking disappointed and then whipped around, pointing an accusing finger at Naruto.

"How come you're not cool like that?!"

Naruto made a noise of dismay and knelt down to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Whataya mean? I could taken that guy out in two seconds flat!" He looked away, not believing him. Naruto became enraged, mentally accusing Sasuke of trying to make him look bad in front of everyone.

"Hey, punks. Get down here." Neither Harumi or Sasuke showed any signs of moving from their spots. Sasuke glared hatefully. He was pissed. He got interrupted in his conversation with Harumi to deal with this idiot. "You're the kind of pesky little snots I hate the most. All attitude, and nothing to back it up." He pulled the mummy wrapped object off his back and set it on the ground

"What!? Are you gonna use the Crow for this?" His teammate exclaimed. Harumi's cut to the right as a new scent abruptly arrived.

"Kankuro." The new arrival called out. "Back off." Sasuke's eyes doubled in width and everyone, besides, the sand ninja, gasped. He stood upside down from a tree branch on the opposite side of the tree Sasuke and Harumi were perched in. Like his teammates, he carried something very large on his back. "You're an embarrassment to our village."

While everyone but Sasuke gasped, Harumi scowled and muttered a "You can say that again. What kind of ninja picks on academy students? It's pathetic really."

"Agreed." The redhead mused. 'Kankuro', as his teammate called him, shot Harumi a nasty look.

"H- Hey, Gaara.

Sasuke stared at the redhead, unnerved by him. _'How did he get there? He didn't make a sound. Only Jounin at Kakashi's level are that smooth.'_

Sasuke already didn't like this guy, and it hadn't even been 5 seconds. It was a new record, even for him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Naruto or any of the characters besides Harumi, and anyone who doesn't belong in the original Naruto plot.**

"You're an embarrassment to our village."

While everyone but Sasuke gasped, Harumi scowled and muttered a "You can say that again. What kind of ninja picks on academy students? It's pathetic really."

"Agreed." The redhead mused. 'Kankuro', as his teammate called him, shot Harumi a nasty look.

"H- Hey, Gaara.

Sasuke stared at the redhead, unnerved by him. _'How did he get there? He didn't make a sound. Only Jounin at Kakashi's level are that smooth.'_

Sasuke already didn't like this guy, and it hadn't even been 5 seconds. It was a new record, even for him.

"Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?" He pressed.

"Uh, yeah, I know… I- I mean they challenged us! They started the whole thing really." Harumi was thoroughly repulsed, but that didn't stop her from noticing how scared the sand ninja were of the one named Gaara. "See, here's what happened…"

'_Gaara…. Why does that sound familiar?'_

"Shut up." He growled softly. "Or I'll kill you."

Kankuro flinched. "Right. I was totally out of line. I'm… sorry Gaara. I was totally out of line." They were really afraid. Gaara switched his attention to Sasuke and Harumi.

"I'm sorry for any trouble he caused." No one replied so Harumi spoke.

"It's fine, I suppose."

Silence descended as Sasuke and Gaara sized each other up. Sasuke didn't like the evil glint in the redheads eyes, and Gaara made note that the raven haired boy was someone to watch. Gaara looked past Sasuke to Harumi. He knew her from long ago, the few and happy memories he had contained her, but he couldn't quite recall those memories or her name, only a younger version of her face, beaming a smile in his direction. Sasuke stiffened when he realized Gaara was staring at her and shifted to block her from Gaara's view. This earned him an irritated look from Gaara, whom disappeared in a swirl of sand, probably a jutsu known only to the sand village. Sasuke stood, helping Harumi to her feet.

He reappeared in front of his team. "Let's go. We didn't come here to play games."

"Alright, sure. I get it." They turned and started away.

"Hold on." Sakura demanded. "Hey!" She shouted when they ignored her.

"What?" The female snapped after the sand group halted.

"I can tell from your headband that you come from the village hidden in the sand. Of course the land of fire and the land of wind are allies…."

"Although, you don't seem to be trying very hard to keep that alliance intact." Harumi interrupted, announcing her suspicions. She hopped down to stand beside Sakura, arms crossed and alert. She searched their body language for any sign that they were nervous. "Makes one wonder…"

Sakura scowled at Harumi for stealing her thunder, not that she had thought of that. The blonde didn't even look at her. "But no Shinobi can enter another's village _without_ permission. So state your purpose and it better be good." She raised her hand to her weapons pouch and Harumi stared at her with a blank expression. They whipped around and the blonde with four pony tails opened her mouth but Harumi beat her to it.

"Or what Sakura? What are _you_ gonna do? Where is this courage even- Wow! Okay." She knew what. It's because Sasuke was here. She was expecting him to whoop their asses; the type of girl who pushed her man into fights to show him off. "Sakura, shut up and stop being stupid. Though, I suppose some ninja _could_ sneak in with the others, though it would be twice as stupid to cause problems if they did. We should make sure. Chunin Examinee passes." She demanded. She knew about the Chunin exams, but she wasn't expecting them to come so soon. Sharp ears picked up bits and pieces of chatter, even without meaning to.

"It's nice to know not all of you are living under a rock." She held up her pass. "We are hidden sand Genin. Our Home is the land of wind and we're here for the Chunin exams. Get the picture?"

"The Chunin exams? What's that?" Naruto mumbled. "Well, I never heard of any Chunin exams, believe it."

"I believe it alright; that you're totally clueless." The girl retorted

"Hey, boss, those are the exams that every Genin's got to take in order to graduate to being a full on Chunin." Konohamaru explained.

"Oh! Why didn't you say so?! I'm so there!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. Becoming a Chunin would put him one step closer to his dream. Gaara scoffed and turned away.

"Hey, you!" Sasuke shouted, jumping don from the branch. He landed right next to Harumi. "Identify yourself."

"Very specific, Sasuke." Harumi teased and he shot her a half-hearted glare. The blonde turned around, blushing and her teammates continued on.

"Hm? You mean me?"

'_Okay, maybe she did like him as much as other girls…;_

"No him,," Sasuke brushed her off and then pointed. "The guy with the gourd on his back." They stopped, looking back. Kankuro looked confused.

"My name is Gaara… of the desert. I'm curious about you too. Who are you?" The redhead says.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke replied. They had a stare off and then Naruto butt in.

"Hi there! I bet your dying to know my name!" Naruto pointed a thumb at himself, grinning widely.

"I couldn't care less." Gaara says, eyes shifting towards the other blonde. "But I do want your name." Harumi blinked and pointed at herself. Gaara nodded and Sasuke stepped in front of Harumi, blocking her from his sight again.

"Don't worry about it." He growled. Sasuke didn't like the interest 'Gaara' was taking in Harumi.

Harumi scowled at Sasuke and pushed him out of the way. "I'm Harumi… Harumi Uzu-"

"Harumi…." Gaara breathed. "Of course." The smallest of smiles twitched onto his face for a couple of seconds. "The Spring Dragon."

A younger, more childish version of his voice echoed in her head, calling out the codename 'spring dragon'. She had called him Red Panda, because of his red hair and the dark rings around his eyes. She met him on a grocery trip into the sand and it turned into a three day long play date. When she came out of her head, the sand team was gone.

Sasuke glared at her, jaw working irately, but he said nothing; just stalked off angrily. Meanwhile, Naruto was being told by Konohamaru that compared to Sasuke and Harumi, he was pretty lame.

"Gah! You won't show me up, Sasuke!" He shouted.

"Back off, loser!" Sasuke snarled over his shoulder. The amount of venom in Sasuke's tone stunned everyone. What had pissed him off? Harumi frowned. That glare let her know that it was her fault, but she didn't know what it was.

Harumi sighed. _'Back to square one.'_

Three other ninja, with the sound symbol on their headbands, watched the exchange.

"What do you think, Dosu?"

"The usual weaklings; nothing special, but the one from the Uchiha clan, that blonde midget and that desert rat, we should watch them, carefully." Dosu responded.

Harumi tossed and turned in her bed, unnerved by Sasuke's sudden anger. With an irritated huff, she pushed herself up off her bed and snuck out her window. Naruto would certainly throw a fit if she he knew she was going off to Sasuke's in the middle of the night. She crawled onto the roof of her building and raised her nose to the air. She didn't know where the Uchiha resided but her nose would lead her there. Barefoot, she went from rooftop to rooftop, making sure she was heading in the right direction.

"What are-" Harumi jumped up at least ten feet into the air. "-you doing?" She placed her small hand over her heart.

"Damn it, Gaara. Don't scare me like that." She settled in the spot next to the redhead. "Still can't sleep at night, huh?"

"You remember…"

"Yeah. I didn't at first. I mean, you were familiar." She rambled, feeling bad for having forgot him, even if it was entirely.

"It was the same for me. I thought you traveled around, didn't stay in one place for too long." He says.

"I did, until Houka was killed. I was nine and it was a leaf ninja – who is currently my sensei – that found me and brought me here and here I've stayed ever since. I got myself a brother, the blonde you weren't too interested in before."

He nodded. "Where are you going… dressed like that?" He gave me an odd look.

"Sasuke's. He's mad at me, for whatever reason, _again_, and I can't sleep because of it." Gaara nodded. "And I should go before he's asleep, if he's not already." Harumi stood but she swooped down to hug Gaara. He froze, and then returned it with one arm. It had been six years since he saw her, but they fell back into how things used to be so easy. Harumi was probably the only person in the world he would never hurt.

"See ya." He watched her go with a blank expression, contemplating the events to come and how much they'd change things. For the first time in a long time, Gaara didn't want to kill.

Harumi stopped when she was out of seeing distance and looked at the ground sadly. He'd become so distant and emotionless. He had changed so much, for the worse, and Harumi was sure it was because of the way his village treated him. She shook her head.

'_One thing at a time, Harumi. First, let's try to fix things with Sasuke and then we'll try to lighten up Gaara.'_

Harumi landed on a roof and breathed in. The strong scent of smoke and cinnamon drifted from the building. She landed silently on the ledge outside the window and slid the window open. She was surprised the window was actually unlocked. She closed it behind her. Two steps in, the floorboards creaked and Harumi had to dodge an oncoming Kunai.

"Sasuke!" She shrieked, hiding behind his closet door.

"Harumi?" Two seconds after he said the that, the door hiding her was slammed shut. "Are you hurt?!" He didn't wait for answer. His hands roamed over her body, searching for any wounds.

"Sasuke!" She squeaked, gripping his wrists. Her odd tone caught his interest and he stopped and stared. Her breathing had increased and her cheeks were bright red. Lifting a hand, he placed two fingers against the pulse in her neck and smirked. Her heart was racing. He stepped back, much to Harumi's relief and tried to put his hands in his pockets, only to realize he had no pockets.

"What are you doing here?"

"I- You- ehjauh- give me a minute." She turned away, placing both hands over her heart. Harumi sucked in a deep breath and then gave him her attention again.

"You were – possibly still are – mad at me. I wanted to know if there's anything I can do to fix that and… what it was that upset you." Sasuke's jaw clenched.

"It's nothing."

"Sasuke, I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong. Please, help understand. Houka says, understanding what makes another person angry, is one of the best ways to understand that person."

"You just… he… I don't know!" He paced and then threw his arms up. He stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose and then sighed. "I don't think… anger… is the right word for what that was. I know what that was and I'm not telling you and… I'm sorry for the way I reacted."

"Apology accepted?" Now she was confused.

"You seemed to like him."

"Gaara? Of course." Sasuke stiffened. "We were – are – good friends. I met him when I was six. Houka had sent me into the sand village for some groceries. Not too long after that I met you for the first time, although, you were already seven. I was still six. I wonder why I remember you so clearly, but not him." Harumi frowned at that thought.

"What? I thought… how?"

Harumi smiled mirthfully. "Oh? So you don't remember me, huh?"

Sasuke leaned in, as if getting closer would uncover lost childhood memories.

"I'm not surprised though." She stepped past him and sat on his bed. "_He_ was a part of my memory, the reason we even met back then, so I guess it's only natural you locked it up. He'd taken you to visit me a couple times, you were apparently, according to him, very adamant about being there on my birthday, and he'd always disappear to go talk with Houka, whom he always referred to as my mother in front of you. I don't believe you two ever formally met."

His eyes got bigger and Harumi knew he remembered those occasional trips into the forest with Itachi.

"Oh yeah," He breathed, sitting down next to her. "I gave you a bracelet with crappy wood carvings of things you like dangling from it for your birthday."

"It was beautiful and I loved it." Harumi corrected him and he rolled his eyes. "Your hands were covered in band aids, though." They both laughed a little.

After a couple of seconds of silence, Sasuke asked, "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"At first, I wasn't sure if you were the same person. You… are so different from how I remember you. I looked into it, found out what happened and I knew. I just didn't know how to approach you or if you'd welcome me, or the memory of me, since it included your brother." A long stretch of silence passed between them. "I've wondered – still wonder – if I'll see that shy, exuberant, happy boy again and I was afraid my arrival, at a bad time, would solidify that it was impossible, or hold you in that darkness longer than you would have had to if I hadn't returned to your life."

"You're making me better, faster." He replied and an odd feeling Harumi couldn't identify warmed up her chest.

"Would… you like me to stay? You've been sleeping in this house all by yourself… it must get a little lonely."

"Sure. It'd be nice to have someone else in the house for once."

"Okay." Sasuke climbed into onto the side of the bed closest to the window and patted the space next to him. Harumi froze for a second and then smiled, joining him. He pulled the covers over the two of them and they settled in. Harumi made a clone just outside Sasuke's door to run some errands before she completely handed herself over to the abyss of sleep.

Harumi's eyes fluttered open and she reached over to shut off the alarm set for their teams meeting time. Her finger tips barely managed to hook on the sliding off-on button to pull it over, because something was holding her back and down. She glanced down and saw both of Sasuke's arms wrapped around her waist. She finally realized how close they were. Paper couldn't even fit between them and his face was nuzzled into her back. The warmth of her neck let her know that, that's where his face had previously been. A blush rose on her cheeks. He must have grabbed on to her in his sleep.

"Sasuke." Harumi called. "Sasuke, wake up." His eyebrows scrunched up and he pulled her closer. "Sasuke." She twisted, and poked his cheek a couple times and his eyes finally opened."Morning."

"Morning." He mumbled. "Let me go and I'll cook us breakfast." He pulled his arms back and then sat up, rubbing his eyes, pink dusting across his cheeks. Harumi slipped out of bed, taking the clothes her clone grabbed from her last night with her. She made her way through the house to the kitchen. She knew where the kitchen was because she'd sent her clone to find it and check for breakfast foods. Upon finding close to none, those were also taken from her house and stored here.

When the sound of running water hit her ears, Harumi quickly threw on her daily clothes in between cooking. The water shut off just as Harumi finished setting the table. Not long after, Sasuke came down, dressed in his ninja gear and drying in hair with a towel. At the foot of his stairs sat a clothes basket that he tossed the towel into.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome!" She chirped. After they finished they headed to the designated meeting spot. They were the first ones there. They were alone for a while, not saying anything. Eventually, Sakura showed up. She seemed rather dismayed when Harumi was already there and she questioned Harumi on why she was already here. Harumi told her the truth and Sakura flipped a disk. When Sasuke gave her an irritated look, she shut up and quietly fumed.

Then along came Naruto. He had stared at Harumi for a while and then Sakura stated smugly that Harumi had stayed the night at Sasuke's. She had expected her and Naruto to get in a fight, but the boy only said 'I know' and looked away. They waited for a while like they always did. Sakura, finally having had enough began to shout.

"Why!? Why!? WHY?! It's always the same! He sets the time and we have to wait hours for him!"

"It's not fair!" Naruto agreed loudly, throwing a fist up.

"What about my feelings!? I rushed here so fast I didn't have time to blow dry my hair!"

"You what the great thing about hair is, Sakura? It dries." Harumi deadpanned. Sasuke looked away, pursing his lips to hide the smile threatening to break across his face. It wouldn't help the situation.

"And I didn't have time to brush my teeth or change my underwear!" Naruto added quickly, to avoid a fight.

"You, uh… didn't?" Sakura said slowly. "That's really disgusting Naruto."

'_First thing in the morning and they're already driving me nuts.'_ Sasuke mentally complained and then scoffed out loud. Just then, Kakashi-sensei appeared.

"Hey, good morning everyone!" He merrily greeted his students. "Sorry I'm late. Afraid I got lost on the path of life."

"You liar!" Sakura and Naruto shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the silver haired male. He jumped down from his perch and landed in front of them, not acknowledging their statement.

"I know this is a bit sudden." He says, putting his pointer finger over his mouth – or where his mouth would be assumed to be. "But I recommended you for the Chunin exams; all four of you. These are the applications." He held out four slips of paper.

"Application forums?"

"You're repeating me Sakura." Kakashi sighed. "This is all voluntary. It's up to each of you. If you don't feel ready you can wait till next year."

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. "Kakashi-sensei, you rock!" Naruto jumped onto Kakashi, hugging him around the neck. He was quick to push the young boy off.

"Don't slobber on my vest!" He passed them out. "Whoever wants to take the exams, sign the application and come to room 301 at the academy. It's at three p.m. five days from now. That's it."

Naruto laughed gleefully and chanted, "Chunin exams."

They were dismissed for the rest of the next five days. Team 7, excluding Kakashi, walked back to the village together. Each lost in their own thoughts. Naruto daydreamed about beating Kankuro and Sasuke and then becoming Hokage. Sasuke merely hoped to fight Gaara. He was excited about any other potentially strong enemies he might come across. Harumi wondered if it would be fun and Sakura was completely discouraged. She didn't believe she'd be able to beat the exam.

Harumi trained with Sasuke at his request for the Chunin exams. She had planned to go with Naruto to play with his little fan club, but Naruto had insisted that she go with the raven haired boy. It surprised her, but she did as he suggested. They were currently taking a break. The sun was starting to go down.

"We should head back soon." Sasuke says, glancing up at the sky.

"Yeah," Harumi agrees. An evil cackle echoed from the shadows of the trees.

"Aw, two love birds on a little date." Both children flushed at the comment.

"N-No were not!" They shouted.

"You know, I don't really care!" The rain ninja – as his headband suggested – threw several kunai knives. Harumi and Sasuke jumped out of the way in opposite directions, throwing their own kunai. He blocked them with a another kunai Harumi sucked in a deep breath and then blew out a stream of raging fire. The rain ninja dodged, but Sasuke was ready for him and delivered a strong kick to the enemies jaw. He landed on his butt.

"Stay out of our village." Sasuke growled and the ninja disappeared.

'_What the hell has Iruka-sensei been smoking?'_

Sakura was the last person to arrive at the academy. The others had waited for her outside the front doors. "Hey, Sakura, you're late!" Naruto called.

"Oh, right." She murmured, waving a bit. "Sorry guys." She stared at Sasuke for a minute before greeting him.

"Yeah." He replied and narrowed his eyes. Both Harumi and Sasuke noticed there was something different about Sakura today. Steadily, team 7 worked their way through the crowd. Harumi didn't understand why they were trying to get into the wrong classroom, or why there were even guys guarding the wrong classroom. It made no sense.

"You think it's a joke? Chunin are qualified to lead missions. The lives of your squad members are in your hands, so you better be tough enough to take the heat. Delicate little girls…" The one talking looked at the girl with two buns sitting on the floor and then sneered at Harumi, making Sasuke glare at him. "…don't belong here."

"We're just thinnin; out the herd. You won't pass anyways so go home and play with your dolls."

"Sexist bastard." Harumi growled.

"Real nice speech." Sasuke deadpanned. "Now, both of you, step aside and let me through. And while you're at it, reverse the Genjutsu. We can see through your illusion anyway. We're going to the third floor."

"Ooooohhh. _That's_ why everyone's trying to go into the wrong room." Harumi murmured as people murmured protests and their confusion. A pair of lavender eyes locked on her and wondered if Genjutsu affected her, having heard he murmuring. It didn't seem like it did.

"Well, well…" One mused.

"So, you noticed the Genjutsu, huh?"

"Go ahead. Tell them Sakura. I'm sure you saw it before anyone else did." Sasuke coaxed.

"Huh?"

"You have the sharpest eyes and the best analytical skills on our squad. You must've have seen this coming a mile away." He said, trying to boost her confidence.

"I must have…" She paused for a minute. "Well, sure. Of course. Sure, I spotted it right away. This is only the second floor."

"Right."

'_That wasn't very convincing…'_ Harumi sweat dropped.

A series of gasps let Harumi know that the Genjutsu had been undone.

"Well aren't we the smart ones. So you noticed an illusion." And then he attacked, aiming his leg for Sasuke's face. Sasuke raised his own leg to counter, but some guy in a green jumpsuit jumped in between them, stopping both kicks. Both Sasuke and the sexist pulled their legs away. It was surprising to see someone who was just getting punch around stop that, but a ninja's art is to deceive. He was only pretending to be weak.

"Hey, what happened to the plan? I thought you were the one who said to keep a low profile and not let anyone see our skill level." A boy with long hair pressed. The girl with the buns hairstyle stood next to him and Harumi assumed they were teammates.

"I know but…" He looked at Sakura, blushing and made a determined face.

"Never mind, it's over." The girl sighed. "Forget it."

Green jumpsuit walked past Sasuke who was staring him like he was trying to figure something out and stopped in front of Sakura.

"My name is Rock Lee. You are Sakura, right?"

"Huh?"

Lee raised his hand in the form of a thumbs up with one eye closed and a grin. "Please be my girlfriend. I vow to protect you with my life." His teeth sparkled and Harumi wondered what he saw in her. She was an antagonizing, violent, bitch.

"Definitely…" She murmured, face blue. "not."

Lee's face fell and also turned blue. "Why?" He whimpered.

"Because you're a weirdo." His head dropped. Naruto laughed at his misery.

"Hey, you!" The long haired male called. "Over here."

"That's not very specific." Harumi replied and received a glare. She just grinned in response. Sasuke smirked at Harumi's antics.

"What's your name?" He asked. Naruto noticed and got angry.

"It's common courtesy to give your own name before asking someone else's." Sasuke replied cockily.

"Hey, you're a rookie, aren't you? How old are you anyway?"

"I'm not obliged to answer." Sasuke retorted.

"What's that?" The girl behind him giggled. And Harumi rolled her eyes. Sasuke turned.

"And you?" He continued, looking at Harumi. Sasuke quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her away, shooting the male performing an interrogation on them a nasty look. Both Naruto and Lee were leaning on the wall, depressed.

"Hey!" Sakura called. "Naruto! Sasuke! Harumi! Come on, let's go." Sakura grabbed both Naruto's and Sasuke's hand and began pulling them along. Harumi was pulled along by Sasuke, because he was still holding her hand. Sasuke pulled his hand away, thinking of the guy from before, Lee and Gaara as he mentally dubbed the Chunin Exams a freakshow.


	13. Chapter 13

As team 7 were drawing nearer to their room, a voice called out. "Hey, you! Hold on!" They all turned around with questioning looks. Upon noticing it was Lee, Sakura freaked out.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked.

"I want to fight." He boldly declared. "Right here and right now."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You want to fight me here and now, huh?"

"Yes." Lee responded without missing a beat. He hopped down from the second floor, landing on his feet and little ways away from Harumi and the group. "My name is Rock Lee." He pointed at Sasuke. "You said it was common courtesy for a challenger to give his own name first, right?" He paused for dramatic effect. "Sasuke Uchiha."

"So you know me?" Sasuke mused.

"I challenge you!" Lee announced, getting into a fighting stance. Harumi analyzed it and realized his strength was Taijutsu. "Everyone talks about the Uchiha Clan and how great they are. I want to see if it's true. I figure you will be a good test for me. And also…" He looked at Sakura, who shivered from fear and disgust under his gaze. He blushed. "Oh, Sakura! I love you!"

Sakura screamed in dismay. "Those eyebrows can't be real! NOOOO! Your hairstyle is horrible too and those eyebrows are _so_ **bushy**! You're such a weirdo!" She gushed and Harumi rolled her eyes. He didn't look _that_ weird and it appearance shouldn't mean _everything_.

"You are an Angel sent from Heaven."

"I think he's confused. Sweet, but confused." Harumi murmured. He winked, and a heart popped out of it. He made a kiss face and it flew at Sakura. Naruto looked disturbed and Harumi raised an eyebrow while Sakura screeched. Last minute, she dodged the heart and it hit the pillar behind her with a 'squash'.

"That was a good move, but let us see you dodge this!" He praised her and then sent 12 more hearts through winks and 'muwah's'. She weaved around the hearts like her life depended on it. On the last one, she bent back so far her head it the ground

'_That. Was. Too. Close.'_

"Hey!" She shouted and shook a fist at him. "Keep your creepy little valentine's to yourself! I was dodging for my life there!"

"You do not have to be so negative, Sakura." He rebuked her sadly.

"Yeah, well, that's Sakura." Harumi informed him. "She's a bitch with an obsessive compulsive disorder and stalker fetish for Sasuke." Lee blinked, unsure of what to say while Naruto silently fumed about Lee wanting to fight Sasuke and not him.

"You've heard of the Uchiha Clan, yet your challenging me? You must be even more psycho than you look." Sasuke sneered. "You wanna know more about my clan? Then I'll teach you… the hard way."

Lee grinned and got into his fighting stance again.

"Hold it!" Naruto shouted, drawing everyone's attention. "I get him first. This weirdo is mine."

"Go for it." Sasuke says.

"Naruto!" Sakura growled.

"Leave him alone, Sakura."

"What? It'll take me two minutes to have this guy begging for mercy."

"No thank you." Lee politely dismissed him. "Right now, the only one I want to fight is Uchiha."

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted. "Well, I got news for you. Sasuke cant' compare to me! Believe it!" Naruto charged and when he got close enough, aimed a punch, but it was easily redirected by Lee with two fingers and a push. Naruto began to fall and then allowed himself to fall, planting both hands on the ground to aim a kick at Lee's head. Lee dodge and then kicked his hand out from under him, shouting "Leaf whirlwind!" Naruto spun in circles until he slammed into the wall and was out.

'_Yeah, that proves it. He's gone through some serious physical conditioning. His Taijutsu, at least, is far better than Sasuke's, and he might be able to beat him with it.'_

"Just accept it." Lee says. "You have no chance against me. You're skills are inferior. You see Sasuke, out of all the top leaf Genin, I am the best. Fight me and I will prove it to you."

"This'll be fun." Sasuke smirked, agreeing to the challenge. "Let's do it." He took one step forward. Sakura glanced at the clock and then gasped.

"There's no time, Sasuke!" Sakura protested. Harumi never thought she'd see the day when Sakura would tell Sasuke what to do or not agree with his actions or choices. "We've got to register by three o' clock. That' less than Half an hour."

"Relax. This'll all be over…" He calmed her worries. "…in five seconds." He charged. Once he got close enough, he aimed a punch at Lee's face, but the boy seemed to disappear. Sasuke barely managed to dodge Lee's mid-air 'Leaf Hurricane'. They both dropped close to the ground, Lee spinning on one hand to kick Sasuke. Sasuke realized he wasn't fast enough to dodge and positioned his arms to block. Lee raised his hand in the form of a hand sign, but Harumi could tell no actual Chakra was used. It was just to throw Sasuke off and it worked. His foot planted firmly on Sasuke's cheek and sent him flying.

"Sasuke!" Sakura gasped in shock. She hadn't seen it coming. Harumi sort of did. She wasn't exactly sure of Sasuke's level of Taijutsu, but it was painfully obvious he was much slower than Lee and therefore, incapable of properly defending himself. And even if he does, Lee's physical strength is also greater and he can go right through it. He slammed onto the ground with a groan, bounced back up and slid a bit. Lee stood and Sasuke pulled himself to up onto his feet, trying to figure what Lee was doing.

Lee waited patiently. The look on his face was enough to let him know that Sasuke was coming back for more, as he had expected.

"I've been waiting to try this out." Sasuke mused, smirking arrogantly. Harumi blinked, unsure of what he meant. Did he have some ability he recently acquired? He tilted his head a enough so that his bangs didn't hide his face and Harumi saw that his eyes were red.

'_He awakened his Kekkai Genkai; the Sharingan! But when?! Was it in the fight with Haku?'_

Harumi felt a sharp pang in her chest when the image of Sasuke in his temporary death state came to mind and she closed her eyes, shuddering. Sakura's face lit up, a blush dusting across her cheeks.

"Sasuke's amazing! You never know what he'll do next!" Sakura whispered.

"I actually, I think Naruto is the more unpredictable. If you actually used your head, you would know that it's not that weird that Sasuke has it, and that Kakashi-sensei did." Harumi replied in a normal tone.

Sakura ignored Harumi, and continued to rant about Sasuke's coolness. "If it's anything like Kakashi-sensei's, he'll read this guy's jutsu and _nail_ him."

Sasuke charged.

"Sasuke's getting stronger everyday."

He got closer.

"Just what you'd expect from an Uchiha."

Lee waited patiently.

She raised her hands, holding clenched fists even with her chest as she eagerly awaited Sasuke to beat up Lee. "Sasuke would never lose to a guy like this! No way!"

Sasuke was kicked under his chin and sent into the air.

Sakura looked completely confused and breathed a "What?"

"Ouch." Harumi hissed, closing one eye. He was gonna feel that tomorrow. Lee stood, planting his foot firmly on the ground.

"You see, my technique it not Ninjutsu or Genjutsu." Just as Sasuke landed on his feet, Lee charged. Naruto finally woke up, holding his head.

"Sasuke!" He gasped when he saw his teammate and Lee fighting. They went at it and only Lee's attacks were making it through. He elbowed Sasuke in the gut and Harumi winced. Sasuke stumbled back, a hand over his ribs.

"You get it now? I am using Taijutsu. That means no tricks, _Sasuke_." He moved so fast, we lost him until he appeared behind Sasuke. "It is just straight martial arts. Nothing more."

"Why you-!?" Sasuke swung his arm back but Lee evaded by jumping up and away.

"I know your technique. Forget it. It will not work. Not on me. I know you can see through your opponents jutsu. That Sharingan gives you the ability to read his chakra and decipher his hand signs and movements. You can guess what he's going to do, almost before **he knows himself**. The problem is, Taijutsu is a little bit different." Lee rambled.

"Right. So what's your point?" Sasuke snarled, showing his frustration.

"I do not try to hide or disguise my movements. _I_ do not have to. Even if you can read them you still cannot stop them. You are too slow." Sasuke scowled. "Your _eyes_ may be quick enough to stay one step ahead of me, but if you're body cannot keep up, what good does it do you?" Sasuke growled out his anger. "Here is what I believe. There are two different kinds of ninja. Those, like you, who are born with talent and do not have to work at it." Sasuke charged, having heard enough. "…and those like me, the ones who have to train everyday of our lives!"

Lee dodged Sasuke's punch. "Fact is, your Sharingan is the worst match…" He dodged a kick. "… for my extreme Taijutsu. Here is what I mean!"

Sasuke moved to block, but it was useless and he was kicked up into the air once again, only this time, Lee popped up behind him.

"Dancing Leaf Shadow." Sasuke declared, recognizing the jutsu.

"Good eye. Now I will prove my point." The bandages on his arm began to unravel and Harumi tensed. "That hard work beats out natural talent. You're finished."

Harumi whipped out a kunai. It was time to end this before Sasuke got seriously injured. Before she could launch it, a windmill toy caught the edge of Lee's bandage and pinned it to the wall. Harumi blinked in shock, at the appearance of a turtle, its weapon and that it managed to throw something.

"This is bad." Lee murmured.

"Alright! That's enough, _Lee_!" The strained bandaged pulled Lee away from Sasuke and towards the turtle. He front flipped and landed on his feet in front of the ninja (?) turtle. Sakura stared in horror at Sasuke's falling frame and Harumi darted forward. She completely caught him, arms under his legs and around his shoulders, supporting his head so he didn't get whiplash with the curve of her arm, much to his embarrassment, Naruto's enjoyment, and Sakura's dismay. She hurriedly set the boy down, knowing it was easy to hurt a male's sense of pride and emasculate them.

"Are you okay?" Harumi was ignored as the blackette glared daggers at Lee.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called, hurrying over. She shot Harumi an irritated look, to which, Harumi gave her a blank one, as usual.

"You… You were watching us the whole time?" Lee questioned.

"Of course!" The turtle snapped. "That last technique is forbidden, you _know_ that!

'_He's talking to a turtle and it's… talking back…'_ Naruto was really confused.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to…"

'_Now he's apologizing to a turtle… *Le gasp!* Wait a minute! Could that be…? His sensei!'_

Suddenly, Lee freaked out and stammered apologies and excuses.

"I'm right! It really is his sensei!" Naruto shouted.

"Huh?" The rest of Naruto's teammates said at the same time.

'Hey! You guys!" Naruto called loudly, hurrying over to his teammates.

"What Naruto?" Sakura asked. Naruto pointed in Lee's and the Turtle's direction.

"That thing he's talking to is a turtle… right?" Naruto asks for confirmation.

"Obviously! What'd you think it is!?" Sakura snapped.

"A yes or no would have sufficed." Harumi muttered.

"Seriously." Naruto agreed. "What I'm saying is maybe it means turtles can be sensei to!"

"How would I know if they could be sensei too?" Sakura snapped.

'_My God! Does she have to yell about everything!'_

"You are a disgrace!" The turtle scolded him. "You think you'll get away with a bunch of lame excuses like that! A ninja never reveals his techniques unless it's absolutely necessary. It's such a basic rule you should know it by now!"

"Forgive me, sir." Lee apologized humbly. Sasuke whipped the dirt off his face, scowling.

'_How could I lose to that freak?!' _ An angry growled ripped out of his throat. If there was one thing Sasuke hated, it was losing.

"Are you prepared to take the punishment for your actions?"

"I- yes, sir." Lee replied.

"Alright then. Please come out… Gai-sensei!" There was a huge puff of smoke and then an older version of Lee appeared, standing on the turtle in a very odd way. The only differences were that Gai wore a vest and his facial features are manlier.

"Heeeeey! What's shakin'? How you doing everybody? Life treatin' ya good?"

All the members of team sevens eyes resembled thickly rimmed plates as they stared in shock, and a little horror.

"He's got the biggest eyebrows yet! They're almost alive!"

"Hi Lee." Gai greeted his student with a smile let off one sparkle near the corner.

"Tooooo weird." Sakura murmured. Harumi nodded. It definitely was an odd sight.

"So that's where Lee get's it from! Same soup bowl hair cut, and even bushier eyebrows." Lee overheard Naruto and whipped around.

"Hey!" Lee shouted. "Do not insult Gai-sensei! He is one of the greatest men in the entire world!"

"Well excuse me for not noticing his greatness!" Naruto retorted, his volume rivaling Lee's and made Harumi winced. "I was too busy watching him crawl out from underneath a _turtle_!"

"He did not _crawl_ out!" Lee shot back irately, growling a little.

"Give it a rest, Lee." Gai interjected. Lee looked back and then nodded. He turned to face his sensei again with a 'yes, sir'.

"Now for your punishment…" Gai lifted his hand up and clenched it into a fist. He whipped his arm back and slammed his fist into Lee's face. "You FOOL!" Lee flew away, blood spewing from his mouth. Team seven's mouth dropped as they made noises of shock, expect for Harumi. She was smiling; happy some ninja were trained in a similar way as her when she was under Houka's guidance. Lee landed quite a distance away from Gai, who slowly closed the distance. He knelt on one knee as Lee pulled himself up with a groan.

"I'm sorry, Lee, but… it's for your own good." Gai's voice cracked like he was gonna start crying.

"Se- Sensei!"

The image of a setting sun on the beach suddenly came into view. Gai was crying waterfalls. "Goh, Lee."

"O-Oh, Sensei." Lee wasn't much better off. "I am… so sorry."

"Alright. It's over." Gai replied, comfortingly. "You don't need to say anymore."

"Sensei!" Lee shouted, running into his teachers arms, who gladly accepted the embrace.

"Lee!"

Harumi sweat dropped while Sakura and Naruto made noises of disgust, the odd background gone. Sasuke scowled, more upset that he lost to Lee after watching their spectacle Even the turtle was crying!

"It's okay. It's okay. It's only a phase!" Harumi pursed her lips, trying not to laugh. They looked ridiculous. Lee apologized again.

"Actually, it's kind of sweet, the way they're all hug-y and stuff." Naruto says, pointing at the two look alikes. Harumi tried to hold back her laughter and it came out as snort. She quickly turned away, placing one of her hands over her mouth.

"Huh!? You've got to be kidding me! They're both totally crazy!" Sakura snapped. They had stood up, still crying dramatically. Gai placed a hand on Lee's shoulder.

"You're just caught in between. You're too old to be called a boy and but not yet quite a man."

"You are so good to me… Gai-sensei!" Lee responded.

"Now take off!" Gai ordered, pointing a finger in the direction of light, or the setting sun in his delusional mind. "I want you to give me a hundred laps around the practice field! Show me what'cha got!"

"Yes, Sir!" Lee agrees eagerly. "No problem!"

"Run into the setting sun. Run and suffer… but don't mess up your hair." He demanded. Gai grinned at Lee, teeth sparkling, no longer crying. Lee wiped his face and then returned the smile, sparkle and all. "Let us go!"

Naruto was the first to snap out of the funk their odd display put team seven in. "Wait a minute! We're not finished here! You guys can't just take off like that!"

That brought everyone else back to reality. "And what about the Chunin exams!?" Sakura added. "There's no time for fooling around!"

Gai made an odd noise and then scratched the back of his head. "Oh right. I forgot about that." He cleared his throat. "Lee, you not only disobeyed the rule against not fighting, you also disrupted the Chunin exams. I think that warrants a slightly more severe punishment, don't you?"

Lee saluted him. "Yes, Sir."

"Let's say _five_ hundred laps! How does that sound?"

"Outstanding, Sir!" Lee praised him. Sasuke face still hadn't changed. He was sulking, but Harumi's, Naruto's and Sakura's face fell, a little concerned for their mental stability.

"They're insane." Sakura deadpanned.

"Probably, but never mind them. What's the deal with that turtle anyway?"

Sakura freaked when she noticed Gai was looking at them. "He's looking at us!"

"Tell me," He addressed team seven. "How is Kakashi-sensei?"

"Do you know him?" Sasuke inquired.

"Do I know Kakashi?" He held his chin and chuckled. "Well, people say… he and I are arch rivals for all eternity."

"There's just no way!" Sakura and Naruto protested.

"How dare you!" Lee snapped. "If Gai-sensei says it is true, then…"

"Let it slid, Lee." Gai intervened. "A ninja's actions always speak louder than words." He grinned that sparkling teeth grin and then disappeared, reappearing behind team seven. "My record is 50 wins and 49 loses, which is one better than his, by the way." He gloated, still holding his chin. Team seven whipped around in surprise. He _was_ a jounin, so it was only natural that he'd be fast, especially if he was the one training a Taijutsu specialist.

"Huh!? You're kidding! How'd he beat Kakashi?" Naruto exclaimed.

"The fact is… I'm stronger than Kakashi." Gai declared. "… and faster." Harumi frowned. It didn't really bother her to have a teacher weaker than others, but she felt like she couldn't just take this guys word for it. Besides, in her eyes, Kakashi will always be one of the strongest. A dark look passed over Sasuke;s face, alarming Harumi.

'_His speed is incredible. He's definitely faster than Kakashi. Is he even human?'_

"You see!" Lee added proudly. "Gai-sensei is the best there is!"

"Tough words when Kakashi-sensei is here to defend himself. And if Gai-sensei was the best there is then why isn't he Hokage? Does he carry the title Sanin?" Harumi pressed monotonously.

Lee stuttered and made noises but couldn't come up with a comeback, other than. "No, he does not carry the Sanin title."

Gai nodded a bit and then gave team seven a thumbs up. "I'm sorry for any trouble Lee caused you. Look into my eyes and accept my sincere apology. Also notice my handsome manly features.

'_He claims he's better than Kakashi Could that be true? Harumi made some nice points, and she doesn't seem to believe that Kakashi is weaker than this guy, but I still don't think he's making this up.'_

"Lee, why don't you accompany these fine young ninja to the classroom… right now." Gai suggested and then threw a kunai to dislodge the wind toy pinning Lee's bandages to the wall. Both Harumi and Naruto noticed the bruises and scars that littered Lee's hands as he re-wound the bandage.

"Remember give it your best. Lee, farewell." Gai saluted him.

"Yes, Sir!" Lee responded and Gai disappeared in a cloud of smoke, the turtle following his lead.

"Hey, Sasuke." Lee called out, gaining the raven haired males attention. "I have .not been totally honest with you. I said I wanted to test my skills and that is true enough, but you are not really the one I wanted to test them against. I lied to you when we were fighting before. I told you that I am the best Genin here, but there is another top ninja. Someone on my own team." The image of the lavender-eyed boy who had interrogated them earlier floated to Harumi's mind and she wondered if that was who Lee was referring to and Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I came here to defeat him. You were just practice. Now you are a target. I will crush you!" Sasuke's glared worsened. "There you have it. Consider yourself warned." Wit that he ran off, jumping high and performing several flips in the air and landed on the second floor he previously joined down from.

Sasuke whipped his head away and glared at the ground.

"Oh, Sasuke…" Sakura hummed concerned.

"Mmnah… how 'bout that? Looks like the Uchiha aren't as great as everybody thinks they are." Naruto hummed, staring at Sasuke with some contempt.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted.

"Just shut up!" Sasuke snarled. "Next time I'll drive him to his knees!"

"Yeah, right." Naruto scoffed, looking off to the side. "Who just got his butt kicked?"

"Stop it!" Sakura snapped. "What are you saying?! Just cut it out, Naruto!"

"Oh my fucking god, Sakura! Leave him alone and stop trying to fight Sasuke's battles for him! He a big boy! He can take care of himself. He doesn't need you to defend him!" Harumi groaned in exasperation.

She scowled and looked away and Sasuke glared hatefully at Naruto.

"You saw his hands, didn't you? When he took off the tape…" Naruto says. Harumi certainly did. "I bet ol' busy brow has been training till he drops; day in and day out. He trains harder than _you_. That's all I'm saying." Sasuke turned away. He was angry, but it was true. Sakura and Harumi looked concerned for the male glaring at nothing in particular.

"Fine." He finally growled and then smirk, face darkening. "This things starting to get interesting; The Chunin exams. Can't wait to see what's next." This had been what he was looking for. Challenges, stronger opponents to fight and test his skills against. Harumi smiled along with Naruto and Sakura.

"Right." Naruto agreed. Sakura nodded a little, blushing a bit. Harumi was proud Sasuke didn't let that guy beating him get to him.

"Let's get started. Harumi!" She nodded, determination sparkling in her eye. "Naruto!" The whiskered boy grinned widely. "Sakura!" Sakura was displeased that she came after Harumi but she nodded a bit nonetheless. She'd follow Sasuke anywhere. Team seven continued on the way to the classroom. Harumi hoped there wouldn't be any more delays.

**I'm going to try my best to update once a week, only once a week.**


End file.
